


Dad In Azkaban

by S1lv3r



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Dancing, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Non-Canon Relationship, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:21:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 46,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27718114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/S1lv3r/pseuds/S1lv3r
Summary: Ivory Malonsi was never too confident. Even when she put on such a demeanor. Her father and her past got in the way of her own self love. Yet there was one boy who would go on and on about her perfections."When I first met her I had no idea how I felt. She's beautiful whether she chooses to admit it or not, its clear as day. She's got the most beautiful way of talking, she's unique. She doesn't filter herself, she simply couldn't care about how others perceive her."Harry Potter was a boy with a dark past, he knew that, most the wizarding world knew that. He had trouble with his self image at many times. But whenever he struggled he knew he could always count on his friends description of him as a pick me up."Harry James Potter, God how I could talk about him for hours. He's perfect, both physically and mentally. He's probably the most forgiving person I've ever met, he's brave, he's a leader. He's basically the embodiment of the Gryffindor house."They were never made for eachother. And there were far too many obstacles between their finally getting together. But in the end, when they did,They fit together as perfect as puzzle pieces.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Original Female Character(s), Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Lavender Brown/Parvati Patil, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Original Female Character(s), Seamus Finnigan/Dean Thomas, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Dark ebony hair glistened in the playful moonlights rays, the dancer it illuminated giggling carefree like a school girl. beside her stood a boy, simple looking with messy and unkept hair that seemed to tickle his nose whenever it swept by. being blown by the beauty and nighttime wind he swayed helplessly in place, starring longingly at the graceful girl infront of him. just barely out of the touch of his fingertips, he felt his worries slip. 

As he watched her smile glisten in the midnight scene he felt something swell in his heart, unrecognizable and yet so familiar. the feeling one got when watching a baby learn to walk, when seeing the first few snowflakes fall gently on your windowsill. happiness was the closest he got without admitting his true feelings for her. he would never openly admit these truths he knew dwelled deeply in his heart, but he knew for sure.

harry potter loved ivory malonsi


	2. 0.0.1

Ivory

Sleeping snuggly in her rosemary covers was a fit bodied girl. her small yet noticeable muscles she gained from quidditch matches with her brothers, shining palely against the morning rays that seeped through her window. she let her dark hair tickle and fall among her tired face, her nose scrunching justly as she felt the urge to sneeze. she let her eyes slowly open, small bags underneath them that showed how desperately she had needed that sleep. as she did they revealed dull blue eyes, ones that had little to no life in them, resembling perfectly her fathers.

ivory malonsi was a pureblood, her family similar to their friends the Weasley's. with multiple brothers and only 1 girl, the family was bound to have a crazy morning. and so as her senses came to her she heard loud racket below, stepping from the sheets and onto the mahogany flooring. she felt a small sense of falling in her head when she stood so abruptly, not taking the time to gather herself as she walked slowly to her bathroom. with so many boys it was a fight to shower first in the morning. luckily it seemed ivory had awoken before most, as she was able to take a good 15 minute shower to calm her nerves.

the day in question was one of utmost importance, the day she would be attending her third year of hogwarts. 

in previous years she had been stuck in beauxbatons. a strictly woman school that ivory had loved up until her bullying problem.

ivory had a temper, that was for sure. she would bang her toe against a table leg and youd hear the entire alphabet in perfect curses. once she even tried to perform the killing curse on a crab at the beach, merely cause she stepped on it and it pinched a small bit of skin off. granted that small bit of skin was essential as she ended up contracting an infection.

though with great displeasure ivorys thoughts finally cleared and she remembered what she had been doing. with a small sigh and a tilt of her head against her shoulder, she turned the water off. Letting it fall and dribble into the drain. With this she cleared herself off of any excess liquid. she stepped briskly out of the wooden plank shower, her mind indulging in small after thoughts now that she had changed into her clothes. a simple outfit truly, a pearly white dress shirt paired with some black tights, a furry brown sweater sitting neatly on her tense shoulders and some cute looking black penny loafers.

ivory stepped outside the fogged and musty bathroom, a feeling of relaxation washing over her soothingly. but too soon interrupted by another crashing and high pitched scream. she let her content smile fall slightly as she stepped down the stairs that seemed too narrow to be safe. when she entered the kitchen she swear she saw her life flash before her eyes.

inside the small but crowded kitchen were her older twin brothers, Kole and John, accompanied by her mother and her eldest brother Chris. Chris was grimacing as he stared hardly at the pan he was washing by hand. Her mother, Mary-Anne, was chasing her two brothers around the kitchen as they banged pots and spoons together. Said twins were wreaking havoc, the ripe age of 15 seemingly making them a bit more excited by the prospect of danger. The danger though, in question, seemed to be fake as her mother fell over clumsily, a whine falling with her.

Ivory frowned as she walked over to help her mother, who gave her a small 'thank you' before turning and chasing after the twins. She gave a nod in return and turned to her brother Chris, who was smiling down at her. "Morning Vee" Chris grinned, his yellow tinted teeth illuminated in the morning light that shined through the dirty pane glass in front of the kitchen sink. Ivory returned the gesture, watching at her brothers side curiously as he handled the plate that he now washed, vigourosly scrubbing at the dirty and greasy splotches decorating it. "Why not use magic?" she asked, her gaze turning up to her brothers face once more. One that now held an off look, though she coudnt place her finger on why. "I want to get more manual labor in, if i use magic for everything im bound to turn out like dad" he moaned, both their expressions faltering at the mention of the parent.

It was no secret the Malonsi family hated their name, their mother regretted taking their fathers name in marriage more then anything. A no good death eater now convicted and locked behind bars in Azkaban, a prison well suited for the man who they all despised. Though none of them would forget they all held atleast one of his features. Chris inherited his father dimples, that showed prominently whenever he gave his signature look, a soft caring smile. Her brothers Kole and John took after their fathers hair, wavy with curled ends that had a light brown tint to them. Her older brother Miles had her fathers wits. While the man was dangerously brave, he never left home without a plan. Finally, Ivory had her fathers eyes, a trait she felt greatly insecure about. The man she had as a father was nothing to be proud of. With his history and how he turned up in Azkaban, she couldnt be more ashamed of the colour her eyes held.

Thankfully, Ivory took more after her mother than most. Her looks almost identical to the womans aside from a few obscure things. They shared wavy jet black hair and pale, snowy white skin. Some said it looked as though they were vampires. Ivory joked about this a lot, as she would buy fake fangs from muggle shops every time halloween came around. With her looks Ivory seemed to hold a feeling of power, as a lot of the boys in her year would send her valentines, even if she specifically asked them not to.

Ivory shot a short stare at her brother before taking off down the hall, making sure not to trip over her mothers defeated husk that lay on the floor. Almost like a dead clam. "Mum look! Kole's playing with dads wand" Ivory said half-heartedly as a joke, though she jumped when her mother quickly sprinted to the living room where the wand lay. In the room was only her mother, looking around expectantly. But she turned sharply to stare daggers into Ivory when she realized her daughter had just been messing with her.

Not being able to dwell on this though as the coo-coo clock that hung on the wall clicked and cawed, the bird sprouting from its tiny doors. It flew and pecked ivory and her mother harshly, before flying back and retreating into the clock once more. Almost like a train it hit Ivory, she was about to be late for the Hogwarts express. Ironic if you ask me.


	3. 0.0.2

Ivory

This wasnt Ivorys first time at Kings Cross Station, she used to go there with her brothers whenever they had to head to Hogwarts. Of course she had never been on the train before now, but she had always seen a bit of the scenery through the white paned windows. She was both nervous and excited for the new school experience, as Beauxbatons hadn't always had the friendliest group of women. So now with the prospect of making a new impression and having more friends then enemies, she felt a need to clean up her look. She was never self concious about her appearance, infact she quite held a bit of confidence in it. But as she thought this she couldnt help fixing her hair that seemed to fly in different directions with the winds blowing in from the glass.

The cherry red train sounded its horn and before she knew it Ivory was hugging her sobbing mother goodbye and taking off into the interior. Inside was warm and gentle, almost like a hug from a grandmother. She couldnt imagine though, as she never met hers.

Walking down the halls of the carriages was a bit anxiety inducing, as she couldnt seem to find an empty carriage. The closest thing she found was one with a pale faced man, sleeping soundly in the corner. Ivory couldnt help but feel a bit irritated at the fact they let a homeless looking man onto a train with a bunch of kids. Probably wasnt going to be the worst thing this year, but she tried to stay optimisitic. She sat herself down opposite the sleeping man after putting her bag above her. In her lap she fiddled with a magazine about witchcraft. A short few minutes past before she got bored, just as she was about to close it though she heard footsteps outside the door. A somewhat sinister idea came to her mind as let herself relax against the window, in a very similar position to the man across from her.

The footsteps stopped and the door swung open, making Ivorys finger flinch every so slightly, though thankfully the movement was concealed by her cloak hung tightly around her. She heard three different voices enter. "Who d'you reckon they are?" one hissed as the door shut. She felt someone sit a bit away from her, and could feel a pair of eyes staring at her curiously.

"Professor R. J. Lupin and another student" whispered another at once.

"How'd you know that?" 

"Its on his case, and the girls wearing a Hogwarts robe."

"Wonder what he teaches?"

"Thats obvious, " whispered the second. "Theres only one vacancy, isn't there? Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Well I hope he's up to it," the first voice said doubtfully. "He looks like one good hex would finish him off, doesn't he? Anyway... " he trailed off. "What were you going to tell us?" 

A third voice launched into a story about an arguement between two people, named Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, along with the warning Mr. Weasley had given them. When they finished, a small silence over took the compartment. "Sirius Black escaped to come after you? Oh, Harry youll have to be really, really careful. Don't go looking for trouble, Harry..."

"I don't go looking for trouble," said the third, nettled. "Trouble usually finds me"

"How thick would Harry have to be, to go looking for a nutter who wants to kill him?" said the first, now giving Ivory a name to the third voice.

"No one knows how he got out of Azkaban," they said uncomfortably. "No ones ever done it before. And he was a top-security prisoner too."

"But they'll catch him, wont they?" said the second earnestly. "I mean, they've got all the Muggles looking out for him too..."

"What's that noise?" said the first suddenly.

A faint, tinny sort of whistle was coming from somewhere. "Its coming from your trunk, Harry" said the first.

"Is that a sneakoscope" said the second interestedly.

"Yeah... Mind you it's a very cheap one," said the first person. "It went haywire just as I was tying it to Errols leg to send it to Harry."

"Were you doing anything untrustworthy at the time?" said the second shrewdly.

"No! Well I wasn't supposed to be using Errol. You know he's not really up to long journeys... but how else was i supposed to get Harry's present to him?"

“Stick it back in the trunk,” Harry advised as the Sneakoscope whistled piercingly, “or it’ll wake  
them up.”

There was a shuffling sound in the air, as Ivory listened to them open a trunk with a click and stuff the sneakoscope under something that seemed to muffle its sound.

“We could get it checked in Hogsmeade,” said the first, sitting back down (judging by the sudden weight on Ivorys seat). “They sell that sort of thing in Dervish and Banges, magical instruments and stuff. Fred and George told me.” 

“Do you much about Hogsmeade?” asked the second keenly. “I’ve read it’s the only entirely non-Muggle settlement in Britain —”

“Yeah, I think it is,” said the first in an offhand sort of way. “but that’s not why I want to go. I just  
want to get inside Honeydukes!”

“What’s that?” said the second. 

“It’s this sweetshop,” said the first, “where they’ve got everything… Pepper Imps — they make you smoke at the mouth — and great fat Chocoballs full  
of strawberry mousse and clotted cream, and really excellent sugar quills, which you can suck in  
class and just look like you’re thinking what to write next–” 

“But Hogsmeade’s a very interesting place, isn’t it?” the second pressed on eagerly.

“In Sites of  
Historical Sorcery it says the inn was the headquarters for the 1612 goblin rebellion, and the  
Shrieking Shack’s supposed to be the most severely haunted building in Britain—” 

“– and massive sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground while you’re sucking them,” said the first, who was plainly not listening to a word the second was saying. 

“Won’t it be nice to get out of school for a bit and explore Hogsmeade?”

“‘Spect it will,” said Harry heavily. “You’ll have to tell me when you’ve found out.” 

“What d’you mean?” said the first. 

“I can’t go. The Dursleys didn’t sign my permission form, and Fudge wouldn’t either.”

Ivory felt a twinge of guilt, even if it wasn't her fault. She had heard so many great things about Hogsmeade from her brothers. Although the boy was a stranger she couldnt help but want to be kind, even if only a little by forging someone's signature.

“You’re not allowed to come? But — no way — McGonagall or someone will give you  
permission —” 

Harry gave a hollow laugh. 

“– or we can ask Fred and George, they know every secret passage out of the castle —” 

“Ron!” said the second sharply. 

Ivory was glad they did, as she now had a name to the first person.

“I don’t think Harry should be sneaking out of the school with Black on the loose —” 

“Yeah, I expect that’s what McGonagall will say when I ask of permission,” said Harry bitterly. 

“But if we’re with him,” said Ron spiritedly to the second. “Black wouldn’t dare —”

“Oh, Ron, don’t talk rubbish,” snapped the second. “Black’s already murdered a whole bunch of people in the middle of a crowded street, do you really think he’s going to worry about attacking  
Harry just because we’re there?” 

“Don’t let that thing out!” Ron said, a cats mewing sounding off the walls, and then a shoving and a yelp.  
“Get out of it!” 

“Ron, don’t!” said the second angrily. 

Ron was about to answer back when someone stirred. Ivory didn't know what had happened but a tense air made its way towards her somehow.

At one o’clock (she guessed by the feeling of warm sunlight on her face) the plump witch with the food cart arrived at the compartment door. 

“D’you think we should wake them up?” Ron asked awkwardly. “He looks like he could do with some food.” 

“Er — Professor?” she said. “Excuse me — Professor?”  
He didn’t move. 

Next Ivory heard a shuffling towards her, making her panic slightly. She knew if they had found out she was eavesdropping she was going to be in some deep shit. So, like the smart cookie she said she was, she stayed silent, her breathing still.

"Excuse me?" the second asked, and Ivory felt a hand shake her shoulder gently. Deciding now would be a good time to open her eyes she stirred softly, giving a fake yawn and rubbing her eyes. "Morning" she said casually.

"Ah— Erm..– the trolley is here" said a small girl infront of her. Ivory noticed she had very bushy, curly hair. She also had a sort of brown, tanned skin.

"Ah.. right" Ivory muttered in a tired manner, doing her best to keep up the illusion. She took out some spare coins from her pocket, knowing she wouldn't be able to get anything to expensive. "I'll take.. a chocolate frog and a pumpkin pasty," she smiled, handing over the galleons to the trolley woman. When she sat down again Ivory immediately dug into the food, thanking whatever god there was she hadn't had her stomache rumble beforehand.

As Ivory munched happily she saw the girl infront of her look hastily towards the sleeping professor. She didn't think about it much though as she looked around the compartment, a boy with messy black hair catching her eyes. He happened to be staring at her, in a way she didn't normally feel comfortable with. "What?" She asked rudely, making the boy snap out of his trance. 

"Oh— eh.. Nothing, you've just got a bit of chocolate on you," he said. Pointing at the side of his mouth.

"OK... so?" Ivory asked as she took her sleeve and wiped her mouth indignantly. The other girl seemed to scoff quietly at her action.

Then things went back to the professor. 

“Don’t worry, dear,” said the witch, as she handed a large stack of cauldron cakes.

“If he’s hungry when he wakes, I’ll be up front with the driver.” 

“I suppose he is asleep?” said Ron quietly, as the witch slid the compartment door closed.

“I mean — he hasn’t died, has he?” 

“No, no, he’s breathing,” whispered the girl, taking the cauldron cake Harry passed her.

"Thats good, wouldn't want to be accused of murder now would we?" Ivory mumbled behind a mouth full of pumpkin pasty.

The other three nodded, all looking in her direction with a somewhat defensive stare. It felt like they knew she had been eavesdropping, but it may have just been she was a new person. I guess most people weren't as friendly as she clearly was.

"Stop looking at me weirdly, makes me think you guys want to have some sort of foursome" she groaned. 

The girl immediately blushed, along with Harry, Ron however seemed to give her a questioning look. "Whats that?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him. "Dont tell him," the girl glared.

"OK... what are your names anyway?" Ivory asked, as she wiped crumbs off her robes.

"I'm Hermione, thats Ron and that's Harry," said the girl. Who Ivory now knew as Hermione. She did her best to smile kindly, though she knew she didn't like Hermione at the moment. A bit judgemental and jumps to conclusions, that was her current mental note on the girl.

The mid afternoon soon came, and as it did Ivory simply watched the rain with the small chatter the other three made in the compartment. She didn't actively listen as much as she did before. As now that she was awake they wouldn't say anything too interesting or personal, so no use to her. Just as it started to rain footsteps sounded outside the door, before it swung open and revealed a blonde and two stubby yet strong looking goons.

Ivory would admit, the blonde was decent looking, though he was definitely a bitch. She could sniff out a fellow one.

Well, look who it is,” said the blonde in a lazy drawl, pulling open the compartment door. 

“Potty and the Weasel.”  
The goons chuckled trollishly.

“I heard your father finally got his hands on some gold this summer, Weasley,” said Blondie. “Did your mother die of shock?” 

Ron stood up so quickly he knocked Crookshanks’s basket to the floor.

Professor Lupin gave a  
snort. 

“Who’s that?” said Malfoy, taking an automatic step backward as he spotted Lupin. 

“New teacher,” said Harry, who got to his feet, too. 

“What were you saying, Malfoy?” 

'Malfoy’s' pale eyes narrowed; he wasn’t fool enough to pick a fight right under a teacher’s nose.

"What about the new girl?" He asked, smirking towards Ivory, who couldn't be more bored at the moment.

"The new girl isn't interested," she responded, her bored stare directed straight towards the blonde boy.

"Aw c'mon, why hang with Potter when you can be with me, Crabbe and Goyle?" He said cockily. Ivory gave a roll of her eyes before stepping up. Her height didn't match his, making him have to look somewhat down at her form. She still have off an intimidating aura which made the boy take a step back. "I would rather eat shit." She said casually, stepping closer as he stepped back, along with his goons.

"Goodbye," she said in a simple manner as she slammed the door to the compartment in their faces. Apparently none of them had noticed they were already back in the hallway.

Ron looked at Ivory in somewhat amazement. “I’m not going to take any crap from Malfoy this year,” he said angrily. “I mean it. If he makes one more crack about my family, I’m going to get hold of his head and—” 

Ron made a violent gesture in midair. 

“Ron,” hissed Hermione, pointing at Professor Lupin, “be careful…”  
But Professor Lupin was still fast asleep.

"That was brilliant" Harry said from beside Ivory, smiling softly at her. She gave him a small grin, turning away slightly. "I'm Ivory by the way, Ivory Mal—" She stopped. Did she want them knowing who her father was? they would obviously recognize the name, as it had been a bit famous years ago when he was arrested. Deciding it wouldn't matter, she finished. "Malonsi, Ivory Malonsi." She said confidently, though she felt like shrinking into her robe at Hermione and Rons stares.

"Your names pretty" Harry said smoothly, though Ivory shook her head. "Not my last name.."

"Is your father... Ardian Malonsi?" Ron asked, to which Hermione slapped his arm. "Ron! Don't ask that kind of stuff... is he though?" Ivory knew that this would happen, but she was fine with it. She nodded her head and prepared for a storm of questions, but they never came. Both Ron and Hermione simply stared at her instead of doing anything.


	4. 0.0.3

Ivory

"Yeah and I'd rather not talk about my fathers war crimes with complete strangers," Ivory said coldly. She turned to look out the window, leaning her head against the palm of her hand. She knew they were still watching her, wasnt everyday you met the daughter of a criminal. Though it may be very common with the past wizarding war.

The rain thickened as the train sped yet farther north; the windows were now a solid, shimmering   
gray, which gradually darkened until lanterns flickered into life all along the corridors and over the luggage racks.

The train rattled, the rain hammered, the wind roared, but still, Professor   
Lupin slept.

“We must be nearly there,” said Ron, leaning forward to look past Professor Lupin at the now completely black window. The words had hardly left him when the train started to slow down.   
“Great,” said Ron, getting up and walking carefully past Professor Lupin to try and see outside. “I’m starving. I want to get to the feast…”

“We can’t be there yet,” said Hermione, checking her watch. “So why’re we stopping?” The train was getting slower and slower. As the noise of the pistons fell away, the wind and rain   
sounded louder than ever against the windows.   
Harry, who was nearest the door, got up to look into the corridor. All along the carriage, heads were sticking curiously out of their compartments.

The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen   
out of the racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total   
darkness. “What’s going on?” said Ron’s voice from behind Harry.

“Ouch!” gasped Hermione. “Ron, that was my foot!” 

“D’you think we’ve broken down?” 

“Dunno…” 

"I hope evil ghosts don't come to harvest our souls!"

"Stop that Ivory, its not helping.."

There was a squeaking sound, and Ivory could see the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window and peering out.   
“There’s something moving out there,” Ron said. “I think people are coming aboard…”

"Why would they do that? We're probably only worth like 5 galleons," Ivory remarked. 

The compartment door suddenly opened and someone fell over Harry’s legs. Ivory couldnt help but cringe at how it must've been painful for Harry and the stranger.

“Sorry! D’you know what’s going on? Ouch! Sorry —”

“Hello, Neville,” said Harry, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak. “Harry? Is that you? What’s happening?”   
“No idea! Sit down —” 

There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on the cat.   
“I’m going to go and ask the driver what’s going on,” came Hermione’s voice. Ivory heard the door slide open again, and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain. 

“Who’s that?”

“Who’s that?” 

“Ginny?” 

“Hermione?” 

“What are you doing?” 

“I was looking for Ron —” 

“Come in and sit down —” 

“Not here!” said Harry hurriedly. “I’m here!”

"Who the hell is on my lap?!" Ivory squeaked, her face reddening and her heart hammering. 

“Ouch! Sorry new girl!” said Neville. 

“Quiet!” said a hoarse voice suddenly.   
Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last.  
None of them spoke. 

There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and wary. Ivory couldn't but worry about the poor man's health. While she may have made fun of him in her head, the man's eyebags kept her concerned.

“Stay where you are.” he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire held out in front of him. But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin’s hand, was a cloaked figure that towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Ivory's eyes darted down, and what she saw made her heartbeat speed up. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening, grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water... But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Ivory's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak. And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings. An intense cold swept over them all. 

Ivory felt her heart speed up, a feeling like she may never be happy again washing over her. She felt like all her happy memories were being sucked form her grasp.

She turned when she saw the ghost looking towards somewhere else. She couldnt help but fear for them, whoever they were. She wasn't able to see aswell in the dark.

In only a second she felt as if she were back to 3 years ago, her dad still living in the house and torturing them all with his presence. Her lungs screamed at her as her breathing went uneven. She felt like she couldnt breathe anymore, every single negative emotion washing over her. Though she wouldn't show it, she would close her eyes and forget everything. She would close her eyes and no tears would protrude from them. She would close her eyes and forget what happened to him.

Then, the lights came back on. She felt herself relax. Her shoulders dropped significantly from the very tense position they had been in. That's when she noticed the boy who lived looking stupid on the compartment floor.

She had to hold back a laugh.

“Harry! Harry! Are you all right?”

“W-what?” 

Harry opened his eyes.

Ron and Hermione were kneeling next to him, and above them was Neville and Professor Lupin watching.

Along with a somewhat snickering Ivory.

Harry looked sick; he put up his hand to push his glasses back on, his face drenched in cold sweat. She though it was kind of gross.

Ron and Hermione heaved him back onto his seat. 

“Are you okay?” Ron asked nervously.

“Yeah,” said Harry, looking quickly toward the door. “What happened? Where’s that — that thing? Who screamed?”

“No one screamed,” said Ron, more nervously still.   
Harry looked around the bright compartment. Ginny and Neville looked back at him, both very pale. When he looked towards Ivory she gave him a thumbs up and a smirk. A light flush appearing on his cheeks when he turned away.

“But I heard screaming —”   
A loud snap made them all jump. Professor Lupin was breaking an enormous slab of chocolate into pieces. 

“Here,” he said to Harry, handing him a particularly large piece. “Eat it. It’ll help.” Harry took the chocolate but didn’t eat it. Maybe he thought the guy poisoned it. Ivory did. 

“What was that thing?” he asked Lupin. “A Dementor,” said Lupin, who was now giving chocolate to everyone else. She thought about it being poisoned, but seeing as how it was chocolate. A very tasty looking one at that, she took a large bite.

“One of the Dementors of Azkaban.” Everyone stared at him. Professor Lupin crumpled up the empty chocolate wrapper and put it in his pocket. “Eat,” he repeated. “It’ll help. I need to speak to the driver, excuse me…” He strolled past Harry and disappeared into the corridor. “Are you sure you’re okay, Harry?” said Hermione, watching Harry anxiously. “I don’t get it… what happened?” said Harry, wiping more sweat off his face. “Well — that thing — the Dementor — stood there and looked around (I mean, I think it did, I   
couldn’t see its face) — and you — you —” “I thought you were having a fit or something,” said Ron, who still looked scared. “You went sort of rigid and fell out of your seat and started twitching —” "It was hilarious!" “—And Professor Lupin stepped over you, and walked toward the Dementor, and pulled out his wand,” said Hermione, “and he said, ‘None of us is hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks. Go.’

But the Dementor didn’t move, so Lupin muttered something, and a silvery thing shot out of his   
wand at it, and it turned around and sort of glided away…” 

“It was horrible,” said Neville, in a higher voice than before. “Did you feel how cold it got when it came in?” “I felt weird,” said Ron, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably. “Like I’d never be cheerful again…” "It wasn't that bad. You're all just severely traumatized." Ivory chimed, though she was ignored.

The redhead in the corner gave a small sob, her face contorted and distraught. She looked almost as bad as the fellow on the floor. Ivory made a mental note to try and check on her later.   
Hermione went over and put a comforting arm around her.   
“But didn’t any of you — fall off your seats?” said Harry awkwardly.   
“No,” said Ron, looking anxiously at Harry again. “Ginny was shaking like mad, though…”   
"I think that cat was more brave then any of you." Ivory laughed, though deep down she was considerably concerned.

Professor Lupin had come back. He paused as he entered, looked around, and said, with a small   
smile, “I haven’t poisoned that chocolate, you know…” Ivory nodded in agreement, her hands covered in the chocolate as she had devoured it earlier in just a few bites.

Harry took his own and stuffed some in his mouth, looking a lot better when he did. “We’ll be at Hogwarts in ten minutes,” said Professor Lupin. “Are you all right, Harry?”   
Harry didn’t ask how Professor Lupin knew his name. Ivory got a bit suspicious though. Sure, the boy was popular, but before then she hadn't seen many picture of him. “Fine,” he muttered, embarrassed. 

Ivory was the one to talk the most for the remainder of the train ride, making fun of everyone, especially Harry. Although she stopped after a while when she saw it was actually affecting them. After that the train ride stayed silent. Everyone a bit too shaken up by the Dementors to say anymore.

Soon they arrived at Hogsmeade station, and there was a great scramble to get outside; owls hooted, cats meowed, and Neville’s pet toad croaked loudly from under his hat. It was freezing on the tiny platform; rain was driving down in icy sheets. “Firs’ years this way!” called a gruff voice. Harry, Ron, Ivory and Hermione turned and saw the gigantic outline of a man at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new   
students forward for their traditional journey across the lake. 

“All right, you three?” Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. Looking towards Harry, Ron and Hermione. Seeming to ignore Ivorys presence at all, which she found a bit annoying really.

Though what she found more annoying was a woman with grey and white hair tied neatly in a bunch pulling her from the crowd. "I'm sorry but we must get you sorted, exchange students have the hat placed before the ceremony, my dear." The woman said, her green dress flowing slightly as it hung amongst her frail body. Ivory could only nod her head, a bit intimidated by the womans aura. She reminded her of one of those scary officials she saw on muggle TV.

They walked a whiles away from the crowd at the platform and took off in a carriage, pulled by skeletal and dark horses. Ivory didn't know what they were, they confused her greatly as only she seemed to acknowledge them. Maybe the woman was used to them by now? Either way, when the carriage arrived the small girl couldn't help but gape at the huge castle. Sure Beauxbatons was absolutely stunning to anyone who passed, but it seemed nothing compared to Hogwarts.

"Brilliant" she murmured, astounded. The woman smiled down at her, leading her across a long corridor into a small office. What she was more interested in was the weird staircase to the office that only opened when you said a sweet treat.

Inside the office was the Hogwarts headmaster, Albus Brian Dumbledore.

"Minerva, can you pass the sorting hat?" He asked. The woman nodded her wrinkled head. She walked up to a large shell, filled to the brim with weird artifacts, books and a strange looking hat. The hat had many creases and folds, some looking like a face.

The woman handed over the hat to the headmaster, who wordlessly spoke to her. Ivory guessed they were speaking through their eyes, as they held a lot of emotions the girl couldn't comprehend. With that, the headmaster put the hat on Ivorys head. "Hmmm.... Tricky.. Tricky indeed.. A lot of loyalty, smart and witty as well.. ah.. a want to prove your worth.. cunning no doubt.. playful.. but brave and adventurous.. might as well be..."


	5. 0.0.4

Ivory

"Gryffindor!" the hat shouted, its somewhat hollow voice bellowing off the office walls. Ivory felt a feeling of pride well in her heart, while not knowing how significant or different the houses were she was still excited. She looked innocently towards the woman and headmaster, and found small smiles on each of their faces. With that being sorted out the woman, who Ivory had found was named Minerva McGonagall, led the young girl out of the office. "Now, we must pick up two of your classmates." Professor McGonagall explained as they walked down a dimly lit hallway. 

"Question, What exactly is Gryffindor?" Ivory asked plainly, still confused on each houses traits and personalities. While her brothers told her tales of their time at Hogwarts, they never seemed to mention how houses worked. They merely talked briskly about the names of each and how some of their classmates from Ravenclaw and Slytherin threw books at them for accidentally making a Hufflepuff cry.

It seemed very hectic.

"Ah yes, Gryffindor house," McGonagall started with a reminiscent smile. "Im the head of house actually." Ivory listened carefully, now knowing the importance of the woman and why Dumbledore seemed to trust her so. "'You might belong in Gryffindor, Where dwell the brave at heart. Their daring, nerve, and chivalry, set Gryffindors apart.'" She finished, reciting what sounded like a poem. Ivory gave her a puzzled look, to which McGonagall beamed. "Thats our house, known for bravery." 

At this the young girl nodded slowly, still a bit bewildered by the song. Though when they reached a large wooden door, leading to a great big hall she had no longer time to dwell on the strange song. She followed behind McGonagall closely as she hustled through the crowd towards three familiar heads. "Potter! Granger! I want to see you both!" she yelled over everyone. The two spun around to face her and Ivory, confusion etched onto their features. She waved at them with a bright smile on their face at the looks of worry they were giving off. The professor seemed to pick up on it as well. "There's no need to look so worried - I just want a word in my office," she told them. "Move along there, Weasley, Malonsi." She finished, shooing the two off. 

Ron and her stared as Professor McGonagall ushered Harry and Hermione away from the chattering crowd; they accompanied her across the entrance hall, up the marble staircase, and along a corridor. When they were out of sight Ron turned away with a saddened look, making Ivory frown. "What? Don't like my presence?" She asked in a joking manner, but the boy seemed to just scoff her off and head into the dinning hall. She ran after him though, catching up to him and pulling him by the back of his robes. "You can't treat me like that! God you gingers are so absurd!" she said as Ron slowed down to a walking pace.

"Yeah well my best friends are gone now.." he replied, sitting at a long table, Ivory sitting down beside him. "No need to lash out at me though," she retorted in a bitter manner. She though her intentions of being friends with them were clear. Did they expect her to buy them gifts or something? "Right, sorry.. shouldn't have done that," he sighed, placing his head in his palm as he stared off, his mind seemingly wandering. He didn't look very interested in their conversation. Although she shrugged it off, because yes, his best friends just left him. He had a right to be a bit closed off.

Ivory didn't care though. She might as well try and force them to be best friends, maybe he'll end up liking it. "Well anyways, do you want to be my friend? If you say no i'll ruin anything you've ever loved," she sung innocently. At that moment two redheads from across the table seemed to perk up in interest at her words. "Will you?" "Can you tell us how exactly?" they said, their identical voices and appearances throwing the poor girl off. "Ah well- I know stuff about the Chudley Canons that would make their fans go-" but she was cut off as Ron quickly sat up. "Never say anything about them! And don't listen to Fred and George, they hate me.." he trailed off, glaring at the two boys across the table. A hint of mischief in their eyes. Ivory could tell they were going to get along. "Well which is which?" She asked curiously, trying to find a difference between the two of them. "Hard to tell them apart but thats Fred, and thats George," he explained as he pointed at each. The twins nodded their heads as they leaned on opposite hands, mirroring Rons position. "We play lots of tricks, we're practically masters at it," Fred smiled. "Name a Person, Date, Time and Place and we'd be able to make their wildest nightmares come true!" George finished. She had to admit, she liked their dynamic, and the idea of being able to get revenge on anyone. "Well see there's this blonde prick, Malfoy-" But she was stopped when they shook their heads. "Can't" "Pranked him too much and he threatened to tell his daddy."

"Ah, thats disappointing.." She grimaced. She had heard many times about her fathers power, and while typically she wasn't to scared of people, (especially power hungry blondes with skin to pale to tell from snow or a poodle) she did fear of Lucious Malfoy. So she knew not to put the twins into any trouble with Malfoy. Only if it ever got really bad would she decide to ask for their help when pranking him. For the next few minutes Ivory and the two redheads talked about their plans of mischief and trouble. Ivory sharing tales of her battles at Beauxbatons, and the twins sharing how they became the best known pranksters in the school. It was fun for the time it lasted, as Ivory had only ever gone to schools with stuck up and prestigious rich kids. She enjoyed the warmth of these new people, it calmed her as the two reminded her of her brothers. Speaking of which, they were seated pleasantly at the same table, though tens of kids away. She would make eye contact with Kole or John at random moments.

"When do you think Harry and Hermione will be back?" Ron asked suddenly, but thankfully his answer was questioned as the two walked into the great hall. Many of the students begun to stare at Harry. She could only guess that they had heard of him fainting on the train. The two sat down beside Ron and herself, Harry sitting between Ivory and Ron, with Hermione sitting beside Ivory.

"Say, what was all that about?" Ron muttered to Harry. Harry had begun to explain what had happened in a whisper to him, but was interrupted by Dumbledore getting up from his seat. The wise looking man stared across the room at all the small students, his eyes particularly landing on Harry when they grazed the Gryffindor table. While the man himself gave Ivory an odd feeling in her stomach, she couldn't help but feel a sense of warmth and belonging when he beamed. 

"Welcome!" said Dumbledore, the candlelight shimmering on his beard. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast..."

Dumbledore cleared his throat and continued, "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business." 

Ivory couldn't help but give out an involuntary shudder as she remembered what happened on the train. Her mind going back to how the dementors seemed to know every single sad thing that had happened in her life up until that point. Her father... Kole setting the kitchen on fire during a prank... John accidentally losing the family dog... While most seemed funny in writing, they were times where Ivory felt most vulnerable. Most emotional.

"They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds," Dumbledore continued, "and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled by tricks or disguises — or even Invisibility Cloaks," he added blandly, andHarry and Ron glanced at each other. Ivory gave them a weird stare before Harry told her he would explain later. Though their gesture may have been friendly with each other, she felt it left her out. She should've come to Hogwarts sooner. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses. I therefore warn each and every one of you to give them no reason to harm you. I look to the prefects, and our new Head Boy and Girl, to make sure that no student runs a foul of the Dementors," he said. As he said this another boy, who looked a lot like Ron and the twins, puffed out his chest proudly. Ivory could only guess how stuck up he would turn out to be. Her money is on him trying to be part of the ministry and being a suck up, but that was merely a hunch. Then Dumbledore paused to stare around at everyone once more.

"On a happier note," he continued, "I am pleased to welcome two new teachers to our ranks this year. "First, Professor Lupin, who has kindly consented to fill the post of Defense Against the DarkArts teacher." 

There was a scattered applause, most in an unenthusiastic manner. Though the kids who had been in the department clapped loudest. Ivory especially, as if the Dementors had bothered her anymore she was sure she might've fainted like Harry had. Lupin himself looked shabby beside the other professors, his ripped and dirtied robes sporting his hallow cheeks. He looked sick and weak, yet the spell he had conjured on the train was strong and paired with a determined face. Ivory wondered how he had gotten the job with his worse for wear appearance. Though as she knew, he was perfectly capable of defending himself. She guessed looks can be deceiving.

"Look at Snape!" Ron hissed from beside her into Harry's ear. She couldn't help but overhear as she was situated between the two. When she followed their line of sight she looked up to the staff table to see a grump, greasy man. His long black hair that fell onto his shoulder looking like it hadn't been washed in weeks, months even. Ivory was one to judge on appearances at first, but she knew her later impression of the man would remain the same.

A slimy git looking to make students lives miserable.

"As to our second new appointment," Dumbledore continued as the lukewarm applause for   
Professor Lupin died away. "Well, I am sorry to tell you that Professor Kettleburn, our Care of   
Magical Creatures teacher, retired at the end of last year in order to enjoy more time with his remaining limbs. However, I am delighted to say that his place will be filled by none other than Rubeus Hagrid, who has agreed to take on this teaching job in addition to his gamekeeping duties."

"Sorry, what did the old bloke just say?" Ivory asked cautiously, staring dumbly at the wise man. Though she was over looked as the trio she had been sitting with stared at each other. Smiles so large that she thought they may make their lips bleed. Though eventually they joined in on the ecstatic applause spreading throughout the hall. Hell, even some of the Slytherins seemed to applaud the giant of a man. "We should have known! Who else would assign us a biting book?" Ron exclaimed.

"Well, I think that's everything of importance," said Dumbledore. "Let the feast begin!"

And with that the Golden plates and goblets in front of them filled to the brim with drinks and food aplenty. To Ivory, who until now had never witnessed a Hogwarts feast, it seemed more magical than anything she'd ever seen before. Her face lit up when she was able to comprehend everything, and before she could stop herself she had turned with the largest smile towards the trio. Harry returned it, his heart skipping a beat at her enthusiasm. He found the innocence of it so adorable, though in a friendly way.

She couldn't help but devour whatever she could get on her plate, as most of the food at her place was too quickly put together to remain delicious. Don't get her wrong, she loved her moms cooking, especially her famous pies, but the feast at Hogwarts was one every student couldn't get enough of.

The hall was filled with the clatter of forks against plates, students chatting amongst themselves and laughter accompanying any jokes made. With all this the small girl couldn't help the warmth in her heart as she felt truly at home here. But what made her mood soften ever so slightly was the look of eagerness Hermione, Ron and Harry held for the feast to finish. She tried her best to let it wash over, but there was a voice in the back of her head to try and make them enjoy the feast with her. She knew they were excited about the Hagrid fellow, but she truly wanted to spend her supper with the three, as she had begun to become attached to them.

Deciding against bothering them she turned and smiled at Fred and George, the two having been stuffing themselves full. She joked with them continously about pranks they would pull during the year. Though she had no idea where any of them would find they necessary funds. She was excited to become close friends with the twins, even if she couldn't be as close with the trio as she originally wanted.

She decided to leave a bit early, as she had a lot to unpack and explore since it was her technical first year. So, she asked Fred and George if she needed to know anything before heading out. The twins nodded simultaneously and told her hoe they would ask their brother Percy for the password and walk with her. When they eventually did the three got up from their seats and headed off to Gryffindor tower.

"So, expelled from Beauxbatons for pulling a bunch of pranks. How devious," Fred said. "Couldn't imagine leaving Hogwarts if you ask me." George finished, to which Fred nodded eagerly. 

"Yes well... Hogwarts doesn't have stuck up spoiled rich kids.." She sighed, though the playful look on their faces made her brighten up a little more.

"Wouldn't be to sure of that, Malfoy's a pretty good contender for that role." "Got it all down, right to the daddy issues!"

"Yes well, I expect there aren't to many Malfoy's lying around here." She smiled, to which the twins returned it.

As they made their way further down the grand hallways of the school Ivory couldn't help but pick up on the twins looking weirdly at her every once in a while.

"So.. Ehem.. Me and Fred have even wondering if you're related to Kole and John.." George started, with Fred nodding along ..Nervously?

"That would be correct," she replied skeptically. She knew her brothers had their fair share of enemies at the school, but she never imagined them targeting the Weasley's. Especially since both the families parents seemed to be close.

"Well, thats good to know." George quieted down. 

From that point on they walked in a weird silence, something Ivory wasn't expecting as a follow up to the question. Maybe her brothers had been really mean to them? It would sure make their mother mad, as she was always gushing about the family.

When they finally reached the door to the dorms after a long awkward walk, Fred quickly said 'Fortuna Major,' and the two bolted up a stairwell, leaving Ivory to herself in the quiet common room.


	6. 0.0.5

Ivory

When Harry, Ron, Ivory and Hermione entered the Great Hall for breakfast the next day, the first thingthey saw was Draco Malfoy, who seemed to be entertaining a large group of Slytherins with avery funny story. As they passed, Malfoy did a ridiculous impression of a swooning fit and therewas a roar of laughter. 

"Ignore him," said Hermione, who was right behind Harry. "Just ignore him, it's not worth it..." 

"Hey, Potter!" shrieked Pansy Parkinson, a Slytherin girl with a face like a pug. "Potter! The Dementors are coming, Potter! Woooooooooo!"

"Get stabbed with a wand and bleed out pug face!" Ivory yelled back, sticking up her middle finger towards the girl.

Harry dropped into a seat at the Gryffindor table, next to George Weasley. She sat down right beside the two. 

"New third-year course schedules," said George, passing then, over. "What's up with you,Harry?"

"Malfoy," said Ron, sitting down on George's other side and glaring over at the Slytherin table. George looked up in time to see Malfoy pretending to faint with terror again. "That little git," he said calmly. "He wasn't so cocky last night when the Dementors were downat our end of the train. Came running into our compartment, didn't he, Fred?"

"Nearly wet himself," said Fred, with a contemptuous glance at Malfoy. "I wasn't too happy myself," said George. "They're horrible things, those Dementors..." "Sort of freeze your insides, don't they?" said Fred. "You didn't pass out, though, did you?" said Harry in a low voice. 

She gave Harry an empathetic look, though she hadn't passed out as he had, she still could feel bad for him.

"Forget it, Harry," said George bracingly. "Dad had to go out to Azkaban one time, remember, Fred? And he said it was the worst place he'd ever been, he came back all weak and shaking...They suck the happiness out of a place, Dementors. Most of the prisoners go mad in there-" 

The twins looked quickly towards Ivory, knowing her father had been there for years now. Everyone was well aware of the girls last name, the man who made it famous having been a great supporter of you-know-who. Don't get her wrong, she loved all the attention, but seeing as how it was only for her father she never quite enjoyed it that much. It seemed not everyone knew about her father though, as when the twins looked to her so did Harry. Though instead of a sympathetic look he gave her a confused one. "Everything alright, Ivory?" he asked, concerned. She had been told Harry grew up in the muggle world, so of course he never knew too much about the wizarding ones troubles. Still, it would've been a lot easier if she never had to explain it to him. "Truly." she muttered bitterly, now knowing he would probably ask more questions later. To her surprise, (and pleasure) he didn't seem to push on anymore. Leaving the matter to something in a passing conversation.

"Anyway, we'll see how happy Malfoy looks after our first Quidditch match," said Fred."Gryffindor versus Slytherin, first game of the season, remember?"

"You guys have Quidditch?" she smiled, her mood uplifting at the mention of the sport. She was never one to be to immersed in the more girly activities, (though she didn't quite mind the occasional dress up game.) as she was raised with so many boy's in the house. This ultimately led to the girl growing quite fond of their interests, which just so happened to include Quidditch.

"Well of course!" "Wouldn't be a proper school without it!" the twins said, turning to the raven haired girl and grinning at her.

"D'you think I'd be able to join the team? My brothers already play as chasers and I'd love to join them! I'm quite good at the sport, though nothing like Chris was. Did you know he used to play professionally until dad got arrested? My it was quite the sight, he was the fastest on the track, dodging bludgers wherever he soared! We even got free seats at most of the Quidditch cups, as he would give them to us whenever he was on one of the teams. Hell, mum told me he once got to be in world cup a long while ago!" Ivory rambled, a spark in her eyes as she did. Harry couldn't help but stare at the girl, the weird feeling in his chest returning like it did the first day they met.

"Ah yeah.. your brothers.. They're great at the sport!" George smiled, though the awkward nature behind it was clear as day. Clearly him and Fred had a relationship with the other twins they didn't want to discuss. She decided to make a mental note to talk to Kole and John later.

Along the table Ivory noticed Hermione studying her new timetable, a smile in her eyes. "Ooh, good, we're starting some new subjects today," she said happily. 

"Hermione," said Ron, frowning as he looked over her shoulder, "they've messed up yourtimetable. Look — they've got you down for about ten subjects a day. There isn't enough time." 

"I'll manage. I've fixed it all with Professor McGonagall."

"But look," said Ron, laughing, "see this morning? Nine o'clock, Divination. And underneath,nine o'clock, Muggle Studies. And —" Ron leaned closer to the timetable, disbelieving, "look—underneath that, Arithmancy, nine o'clock. I mean, I know you're good, Hermione, but no one'sthat good. How're you supposed to be in three classes at once?"

"Don't be silly," said Hermione shortly. "Of course I won't be in three classes at once."

"Well then —"

"Pass the marmalade," said Hermione. "But —"

"Oh, Ron, what's it to you if my timetable's a bit full?" Hermione snapped. "I told you, I'vefixed it all with Professor McGonagall." 

Just then the raven haired girl seemed to notice the large man from before entering the great hall. He seemed to be singing a dead polecat in one of his ginormous hands. Ivory was disgusted. She was never one to actively go out of her way to dislike someone, but the giant made it seem so easy. Though, she tried her hardest to remind herself he was just a large bloke with... a dead animal.. 

She lost her apetite.

"All righ'?" he said eagerly, pausing on his way to the staff table. "Yer in my firs' ever lesson!Right after lunch! Bin up since five getting' everthin' ready... hope it'sokay... me, a teacher...hones'ly..." 

He grinned broadly at them and headed off to the staff table, still swinging the polecat. When he did, Ivory let out a held in breath, as she didn't want to smell the dead animal coming off the tall man.

"Wonder what he's been getting ready?" said Ron, a note of anxiety in his voice. 

As the hall started to grow more quiet with leaving students Ivory and Ron seemed to have the same idea to check their schedules. 

"We'd better go, look, Divination's at the top of North Tower. It'll take us ten minutes to get there..." "Why's the castle so big.." Ivory groaned.

They finished breakfast hastily, said goodbye to Fred and George and walked back through thehall. As they passed the Slytherin table, Malfoy did yet another impression of a fainting fit(To which Miss. Malonsi thought it a good idea to throw the pumpkin tart she had been nibbling on straight into his eye). Theshouts of their laughter followed Harry into the Entrance Hall though, regardless of the young girls action. Harry didn't mind it as much though, as he simply stared at Ivory in pure amusement and admiration.

The way towards the tower was a long, winded one. Filled with trials and hardships. Making the girl regret ever flipping off a Beauxbatons student.

"There's — got — to — be — a — short — cut," Ron panted, as they climbed the seventh longstaircase and emerged on a landing, where there was nothing but a large painting of abare stretch of grass hanging on the stone wall. 

"I think it's this way," said Hermione, peering down the empty passage to the right. 

"Can't be," said Ron. "That's south. Look, you can see a bit of the lake outside the window..." 

Ivory did her best to tune out their bickering, instead turning to the boy who lived and watching him stare at a painting. While this behaviour was pretty unusual, what she found most upsetting was the painting to be actually moving.

While yes, she had now encountered a lot of moving paintings in her few hours at Hogwarts, she would never seem to get used to its absurdness. She simply assumed that only the few that were important had been able to move about in their frames.

"Aha!" he yelled, seeing Harry, Ron, Ivory and Hermione. "What villains are these, that trespass uponmy private lands! Come to scorn at my fall, perchance? Draw, you knaves, you dogs!" 

They watched in astonishment as the little knight tugged his sword out of its scabbard and began brandishing it violently, hopping up and down in rage. But the sword was too long for him; a particularly wild swing made him overbalance, and he landed facedown in the grass. “Are you all right?” said Harry, moving closer to the picture. 

“Get back, you scurvy braggart! Back, you rogue!”

"hey chill out chubs!" 

The knight seized his sword again and used it to push himself back up, but the blade sank deeply   
into the grass and, though he pulled with all his might, he couldn’t get it out again. Finally, he   
had to flop back down onto the grass and push up his visor to mop his sweating face. 

“Listen,” said Harry, taking advantage of the knight’s exhaustion, “we’re looking for the North   
Tower. You don’t know the way, do you?” 

“A quest!” The knight’s rage seemed to vanish instantly. He clanked to his feet and shouted,   
“Come follow me, dear friends, and we shall find our goal, or else shall perish bravely in the charge!” 

He gave the sword another fruitless tug, tried and failed to mount the fat pony, gave up, and   
cried, “On foot then, good sirs and gentle ladies! On! On!” 

And he ran, clanking loudly, into the left side of the frame and out of sight. 

They hurried after him along the corridor, following the sound of his armor. Every now and then   
they spotted him running through a picture ahead. 

“Be of stout heart, the worst is yet to come!” yelled the knight, and they saw him reappear in   
front of an alarmed group of women in crinolines, whose picture hung on the wall of a narrow   
spiral staircase. 

Puffing loudly, Harry, Ron, Ivory and Hermione climbed the tightly spiraling steps, getting dizzier and   
dizzier, until at last they heard the murmur of voices above them and knew they had reached the   
classroom. 

“Farewell!” cried the knight, popping his head into a painting of some sinister-looking monks.   
“Farewell, my comrades-in-arms! If ever you have need of noble heart and steely sinew, call   
upon Sir Cadogan!” 

“Yeah, we’ll call you,” muttered Ron as the knight disappeared, “if we ever need someone   
mental.” At this Ivory snickered, though she tried to conceal it with a cough. 

They climbed the last few steps and emerged onto a tiny landing, where most of the class was already assembled. There were no doors off this landing, but Ron nudged Harry and pointed at the ceiling, where there was a circular trapdoor with a brass plaque on it.   
“‘Sybill Trelawney, Divination teacher,’” Harry read. “How’re we supposed to get up there?” 

As though in answer to his question, the trapdoor suddenly opened, and a silvery ladder descended right at Harry’s feet. Everyone got quiet.


	7. 0.0.6

Ivory

"After you," said Ron, grinning, so Harry climbed the ladder up first.

He emerged into the strangest-looking classroom he had ever seen. In fact, it didn't look like a classroom at all, more like a cross between someone's attic and an old-fashioned tea shop. At least twenty small, circular tables were crammed inside it, all surrounded by chintz armchairs and fat little poufs. Everything was lit with a dim, crimson light; the curtains at the windows were all closed, and the many lamps were draped with dark red scarves. It was stiflingly warm, and the fire that was burning under the crowded mantelpiece was giving off a heavy, sickly sort of perfume as it heated a large copper kettle. The shelves running around the circular walls were crammed with dusty-looking feathers, stubs of candles, many packs of tattered playing cards, countless silvery crystal balls, and a huge array of teacups.

Ron and Ivory appeared at Harry's shoulder as the class assembled around them, talking in whispers. 

"Where is she?" They asked at the same time. Making the two turn towards each other and grin.

A voice came suddenly out of the shadows, a soft, misty sort of voice. 

"Welcome," it said. "How nice to see you in the physical world at last."

Ivory couldn't even begin to tell you how weirded out she was by this new woman's appearance. She wore large round glasses that made her eyes look like a bugs. The woman was frail, thin and covered in hippie looking accessories. One might say she robbed a muggle thrifting shop.

"Sit, my children, sit," she said, and they all climbed awkwardly into armchairs or sank onto poufs. Harry, Ron, Ivory and Hermione sat themselves around the same round table. Ivory next to Ron and Hermione and Harry beside Ron opposite of her.

"Welcome to Divination," said Professor Trelawney, who had seated herself in a winged armchair in front of the fire. "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

"I guess her Inner Eye is already clouded.. with that fashion sense," Ivory said into the palm of her hand as quiet as she could. Though she was still heard, as Ron snorted and Harry gave a quiet laugh.

Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued, "So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you... Books can take you only so far in this field..."

At these words, both Harry and Ron glanced, grinning, at Hermione, who looked startled at the news that books wouldn't be much help in this subject. Ivory had no idea what their exchange was about, as she hadn't been in their group for too long.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future," Professor Trelawney went on, her enormous, gleaming eyes moving from face to nervous face. "It is a gift granted to few. You, boy," she said suddenly to Neville, who almost toppled off his pouf. "Is your grandmother well?"

"I think so," said Neville tremulously.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear," said Professor Trelawney, the firelight glinting on her   
long emerald earrings. Neville gulped. Professor Trelawney continued placidly. "We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," she shot suddenly at Parvati Patil, "beware a red-haired man."

Parvati gave a startled look at Ron, who was right behind her and edged her chair away from him.

Ivory scoffed at this action. 

"In the second term," Professor Trelawney went on, "we shall progress to the crystal ball — if   
we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave   
us for ever. Along with one disrespecting the art throughout the year"

A very tense silence followed this pronouncement, but Professor Trelawney seemed unaware of it.

"I wonder, dear," she said to Lavender Brown, who was nearest and shrank back in her chair, "if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?"

Lavender, looking relieved, stood up, took an enormous teapot from the shelf, and put it down on the table in front of Professor Trelawney.

"Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading — it will happen on Friday the   
sixteenth of October."

Lavender trembled.

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of Unfogging the Future. I shall move among you, helping and instructing.

Oh, and dear," — she caught Neville by the arm as he made to stand up, "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

Sure enough, Neville had no sooner reached the shelf of teacups when there was a tinkle of breaking china. Professor Trelawney swept over to him holding a dustpan and brush and said, "One of the blue ones, then, dear, if you wouldn't mind... thank you..."

The young girl looked towards Neville with a sympathetic stare. It was more likely that Trelawneys words had made him lose confidence and drop it. Ivory doubted the woman could actually predict the future. If she could then she would've known to wash her hair yesterday, as it was looking exceptionally dirty.

Other than this, Ivory and Hermione decided to pair together. They filled their teacups with boiling water and drank it as quickly as they could, before swirling the tea leaves that remained inside. She wasn't the biggest fan of tea, so it wasn't too pleasant. Especially with the lack of flavour she would usually get from a small tablespoon of honey she usually added.

"Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!" Professor Trelawney cried through the gloom.

Ivory and Hermione both rolled their eyes, giggling as they did at the woman's absurdness. "Use your Inner Eye!" Hermione laughed, mocking the hippie woman. Ivory tried her best to not laugh so loudly, but her soft laughs echoed around their table. Making the two boys beside them look towards them, Harry smiling softly at the girl and Ron grinning at her happily.

"Ahem, we better actually work on this Hermione," Ivory said after a while of laughing. As she did Hermione frowned slightly at the girl, which made her feel a bit bad. Though Hermione merely sighed and nodded.

"Well... Yours has uhm.. a stag which could be.. a sign of your soulmate?.. also, this looks like an.." Hermione looked towards the book, the boys watching her as well. "Ah, a shadow looking thing, which indicates fear and acceptance..? thats rubbish."

"Right, yours has.. well it looks like a rat which can be.. running from your problems. Oh! a sock? not sure what that is.." Ivory murmured, as she tried to decipher Hermione's tea leaves. Hermione seemed to find Ivory's confusion amusing, as she giggled once more at the girls analogies.

The two girls had started to laugh as silently as possible at Ivory's lack of talent in this certain class. While usually the girl wouldn't like people laughing at her, or her failure, Hermione seemed so easy to get along with now. A lot of the thoughts she had on the train had faded away as she became closer with the girl. Infact, Ivory noticed a few of the smaller details that some may not if they didn't look close enough.

They stopped however, when Harry let out a snort from beside them. Making them try to conceal the wave of laughter that had come again.

"Let me see that, my dear," she said reprovingly to Ron, sweeping over and snatching Harry's cup from him. Everyone went quiet to watch. Professor Trelawney was staring into the teacup, rotating it counter clockwise.

"The falcon... my dear, you have a deadly enemy." 

"But everyone knows that," said Hermione in a loud whisper. Professor Trelawney stared at her. 

"Well, they do," said Hermione. "Everybody knows about Harry and You Know Who." 

"Its common knowledge that the oh so mighty Potter defeated him," Ivory continued off with a smirk. Making the poor boy flush in embarrassment.

Professor Trelawney chose not to reply. She lowered her huge eyes to Harry's cup again and continued to turn it.

"The club... an attack. Dear, dear, this is not a happy cup..." 

"I thought that was a bowler hat," said Ron sheepishly. Ivory giggled at this, making Ron turn to glare at her in a playful manner. 

"The skull... danger in your path, my dear..." 

Everyone was staring, transfixed, at Professor Trelawney, who gave the cup a final turn, gasped,   
and then screamed. 

There was another tinkle of breaking china; Neville had smashed his second cup.

Professor Trelawney sank into a vacant armchair, her glittering hand at her heart and her eyes closed. 

"My dear boy — my poor dear boy — no — it is kinder not to say — no — don't ask me..." 

"What is it, Professor?" said Dean Thomas at once. Everyone had got to their feet, and slowly they crowded around Harry and Ron's table, pressing close to Professor Trelawney's chair to get a good look at Harry's cup. 

"My dear," Professor Trelawney's huge eyes opened dramatically, "you have the Grim."

"The what?" said Harry. 

He could tell that he wasn't the only one who didn't understand; Dean Thomas shrugged at him and Lavender Brown looked puzzled, but nearly everybody else clapped their hands to their mouths in horror.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Professor Trelawney, who looked shocked that Harry hadn't understood. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen — the worst omen — of death!"

She scoffed, out of all the rubbish in this class this seemed to tick her off the most. "Oh please, doesn't look like it at all!" She frowned. "Besides, why would you tell a student they may die? Sounds like garbage. My mum didn't pay for a book about make believe so my dusty teacher could tell me my classmate would fall down the stairs or get attacked by a wolf."

Professor Trelawney surveyed her with utter dislike.

"Im sorry my dear, but it seems you do not have the gift as I do.." The nimble woman said, making the younger girl turn away in distaste.

Seamus Finnigan was tilting his head from side to side. 

"It looks like a Grim if you do this," he said, with his eyes almost shut, "but it looks more like a donkey from here," he said, leaning to the left. 

"When you've all finished deciding whether I'm going to die or not!" said Harry, taking everyone by surprise. Now nobody seemed to want to look at him. 

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," said Professor Trelawney in her mistiest voice. "Yes... please pack away your things..." 

Silently the class took their teacups back to Professor Trelawney, packed away their books, and closed their bags. Even Ron was avoiding Harry's eyes. 

"Until we meet again," said Professor Trelawney faintly, "fair fortune be yours. Oh, and dear,"   
— she pointed at Neville, "you'll be late next time, so mind you work extra-hard to catch up." 

Harry, Ron, Ivory and Hermione descended Professor Trelawney's ladder and the winding stair in silence, then set off for Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration lesson. It took them so long to find her classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time. Harry chose a seat right at the back of the room, the rest of the class shooting furtive glances at him, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment.

While Ivory had looked at McGonagall in astonishment, she had been a bit too shaken up to utter a word or even clap her hands. The previous class having made her jitter slightly whenever a noise sounded abruptly. She wasn't a very jumpy person but it seems at that moment she just couldn't help it. What made it worse was the tiny voice in the back of her head saying that this was a sign of her own weakness, of her caring. She didn't like that.

"Really, what has got into you all today?" said Professor McGonagall, turning back into herself   
with a faint pop, and staring around at them all. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my   
transformation's not got applause from a class."

Everybody's heads turned toward Harry again, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand.

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and —"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning. "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?" 

Everyone stared at her.

"Me," said Harry, finally. Relieving the room of its tense air. Which seemed to make Ivory feel a lot more comfortable, as her back slouched and her posture slumped.

"I see," said Professor McGonagall, fixing Harry with her beady eyes. "Then you should know,Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —" Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white. She went on, more calmly, "Divinationis one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney..." She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health tome, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in." 

At this Hermione and Ivory laughed, Ivory leaning her head slightly on Hermione's shoulder as her body racked with chuckles. She would never guess that strict, tight wounded McGonagall would crack a joke, or make fun of a fellow teacher. It seemed to cheer up the black haired girl more than she would've imagined. 

Not everyone was convinced, however. Ron still looked worried, and Lavender whispered, "But what about Neville's cup?" 

When the Transfiguration class had finished, they joined the crowd thundering toward the GreatHall for lunch. "Ron, cheer up," said Hermione, pushing a dish of stew toward him. "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but didn't start. "Harry," he said, in a low, serious voice, "You haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?" "Yeah, I have," said Harry. "I saw one the night I left the Dursleys'." Ron let his fork fall with a clatter. "Probably a stray," said Hermione calmly. Ivory nodded, trying to push any doubtful thoughts away. "One time I saw a black dog, real shaggy and fluffy. He turned out to be nice though, licked my hand and pawed at me. Took my newspaper though.." Ivory said absent-mindedly.

Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad. "Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's — that's bad," he said. "My — my uncle Bilius saw one and — and he died twenty-four hours later!"

"Coincidence," said Hermione airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice. "You don't know what you're talking about!" said Ron, starting to get angry. "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"

"There you are, then," said Hermione in a superior tone. "They see the Grim and die of fright.The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"

Ron mouthed wordlessly at Hermione, who opened her bag, took out her new Arithmancy book, and propped it open against the juice jug. "I think Divination seems very woolly," she said, searching for her page. "A lot of guesswork, if you ask me." 

"Yeah, and the way Trelawney thought she could talk to me- God I was going to roll up my sleeves and punch the ever loving-" She was interrupted though as Harry kicked her leg under the table, sending her a sharp stare as a professor walked by their spot on the table. She gave him a scoff but still beamed at him, making the poor brown haired boy's heart flutter. He knew that one of these days he was going to fall harder and a lot faster. He was definitely not prepared for that, as he already would've given her any notes for classes she needed if she simply batted her eyelashes. 

Granted, his notes were never as good as Hermione's. Who also seemed to be close with the new girl.

When the two snapped back to reality they arrived with a sharp noise. Causing the two to jump in sync, their arms brushing together as they did.

Hermione slammed her Arithmancy book down on the table so hard that bits of meat and carrot flew everywhere. 


	8. 0.0.7

Ivory

And thus, one of the many fights between Ron and Hermione had begun. Ivory could tell this usually happened, by Harry's casual nature surrounding the whole situation. So she decided not to question it either, she guessed that the two were far too different, which would either end with them becoming enemies or getting married.

Ivory hoped to be the bridesmaid.

As the four walked down towards Hagrid's Hut by the Forbidden Forest an awkward silence swept over them, only broken occasionally by Ivory and Harry having a small conversation. The two soon got bored of the silence and parted themselves away from the two fighting lovers. Ivory guiding Harry farther along the path as she had already visited the giant a while ago to ask a question about their new book.

"Right so get this, you stroke the spine," she said in amazement, taking turns looking between the book in her hands and the brown haired boy she had been conversing with. "Cool," he responded as his mind wandered. For some reason the boy couldn't seem to focus on anything but Ivory's eyes. Which had shone from the afternoon light, yet a strange mystery swirled behind the blue pools that stared happily ahead. 

"Ivory, what happened with your dad?" He asked suddenly, surprising even himself by the bluntness of the question.

She looked towards him in shock, not expecting the query so soon, even if she knew it would happen one day. So, with a small sigh she started to explain.

"My dad was never a happy fellow, in fact I don't think i've ever seen the poor bloke smile. At least, not while I was alive," she paused. Was this such a good idea? She would be spilling most her life's secrets to a boy she just met a few hours ago. Though when she looked at him, he doubt was thrown out the window from the soft look she gave her. So she continued, "He was a mysterious man really. Never talked about his job or his life before their marriage. Then one day he came home after a bad storm, said he had had a tough day at work and needed a long break. So of course my brothers and I left him alone. A few hours later though in the middle of the night, I heard a plate being broken. So I went downstairs.." She trailed off and closed her eyes, squeezing them tightly as to stay as emotionless as she possibly could. Though her next few words were said with a broken voice. 

"I found my mum on the ground, bloodied up pretty bad. My dad was uhm- he was standing over her with his wand out and she was squiggling around. Looked like she was having a fit. Turns out he was using an unforgivable curse on her," she scoffed, her shoulders tensing as she crossed her arms against her chest. "Anyway, I went upstairs and told Chris who told the ministry and a few hours later they tell us his 'tough day at work' was the day a bunch of muggle-borns went missing. They appeared in our basement though. No idea how."

She wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand and turned towards Harry, who's expression had fallen into one of shock and sympathy. She knew she hadn't told him the worst of it, but she'd rather not have started crying before class began. He walked closer to her to take her hand in his, giving it a tight squeeze, to which she smiled at him. The action giving her more comfort than she thought it would. Though she wouldn't admit it now, she secretly wished that the holding would last. But to her sadness he let go as quickly as he had latched on. 

"Ahem, anyway.. It happened a while ago so i'm fine now, i'm glad he's rotting away in Azkaban with those Dementors. He was a vicious man. Deserved his fate," she coughed, trying to cover up the pink dust that had fallen onto her pale cheeks. But Harry did notice, and it made him smile ever so slightly behind his turned head. Thankfully before harry could say anything more to get the girl flustered they had reached Hagrid's hut. Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, withFang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start. 

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached. "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!" The giant man led them around the forest, which Ivory knew as The Forbidden Forest (Her brothers had gotten detention for wandering in there one to many times.). No move then five minutes later did the class find themselves stood in a clearing, an empty paddock standing in front of them.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it — make sure yeh can see — now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books —"

"How?" said the cold, drawling voice of Draco Malfoy.

"Eh?" said Hagrid.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated. He took out his copy of The Monster Book ofMonsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too; some, like Harry, had belted their book shut; others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips. 

"Hasn' — hasn' anyone bin able ter open their books?" said Hagrid, looking crestfallen. The class all shook their heads. With the exception of Ivory.

"Yeh've got ter stroke 'em," said Hagrid, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world."Look —" 

He took Hermione's copy and ripped off the Spellotape that bound it. The book tried to bite, but Hagrid ran a giant forefinger down its spine, and the book shivered, and then fell open and lay quiet in his hand. 

"Oh, how silly we've all been!" Malfoy sneered. "We should have stroked them! Why didn't we guess!" 

Ivory glared at the blonde boy, slowly reaching to take her wand out of her pocket as she did. But she was sadly stopped by Harry's hand over hers, pushing it back down so she would release her wand. She sent Harry a scowl, to which he simply frowned.

"I — I thought they were funny," Hagrid said uncertainly to Hermione.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" said Malfoy. "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Shut up, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. This made the blue eyed girl smile at him, taking his hand in her's and giving it a light squeeze like she had done before to him. 

"Righ' then," said Hagrid, who seemed to have lost his thread, "so — so yeh've got yer books an'... an'... now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I'll go an' get 'em. Hang on..." He strode away from them into the forest and out of sight.

"God, this place is going to the dogs," said Malfoy loudly. "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him —"

"Shut up, Malfoy," Harry repeated. 

"Careful, Potter, there's a Dementor behind you —"

"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock. While Lavender had been Ivory's dorm-mate, she couldn't help the icy stare that was sent towards the girls direction. At this, she seemed to back down.

Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures they had ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leathercollar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were heldin the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.

"Gee up, there!" he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence. "Hippogriffs!" Hagrid roared happily, waving a hand at them. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

You could sort of see what Hagrid meant. Once you got over the first shock of seeing something that was half horse, half bird, you started to appreciate the Hippogriffs' gleaming coats, changing smoothly from feather to hair, each of them a different color: stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black. 

"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer..." No one seemed to want to. Harry, Ron, Ivory, and Hermione, however, approached the fence cautiously.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is, they're proud," said Hagrid. "Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle weren't listening; they were talking in an undertone and Ivory had anasty feeling they were plotting how best to disrupt the lesson.

"Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued. "It's polite, see?Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him.If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt."

"Right — who wants ter go first?" Most of the class backed farther away in answer. Even Harry, Ron, Ivory, and Hermione had misgivings. The Hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn't seem to like being tethered like this. "No one?" said Hagrid, with a pleading look. 

"I'll do it," said Harry.

There was an intake of breath from behind him, and both Lavender and Parvati whispered,"Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!" 

Harry ignored them. He climbed over the paddock fence. 

"Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid. "Right then — let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak." 

And with that, Harry tried his best to mount the proud animal, and after two attempts he was thankfully very successful. Being able to climb onto the Hippogriff and fly him around the area. The class, emboldened by Harry's success climbed cautiously into the paddock. Hagrid letting the Hippogriff's off their leashes one by one for each of the students.

Ivory cautiously walked up to one, bowing before it. Behind her Harry, Ron and Hermione watched slowly, each of them hoping for a soft and gentle experience for the new girl. "Right, so bow, don't break yeh' eye contact and then let him sniff yer' hand" Hagrid instructed, as he went to watch her as well. Joining the small group of four as he usually did.

She remained quiet and unblinking, her blue eyes piercing into the Hippogriff's grey ones. To her immense happiness the creature bowed in return, its posture seeming to relax in her presence. When it did she slowly walked up to it, holding her hand out and flipping it so the Hippogriff could smell it.

"Right so, that one there is named Nipsy," Hagrid explained, watching Ivory pet the magical creature with a content look on her face. Never in her life had she expected to be able to touch the wings and feathers of such a magnificent creature. In fact, she never knew they existed till this day. Even when her mother had begun to work in the ministry's department for magical creatures she never once learned about the Hippogriffs. She deeply regretted never asking her mother about them before.

"I like them," she smiled, her lips tightening as she tried to maintain the giggle that would've escaped her mouth when Nipsy had begun to brush their feathers against her hand. Almost like a cat would when wanting attention. It was adorable.

Harry watched with a dreamy stare as Ivory and Nipsy got along, though he was pleasently brought back to reality when Draco Malfoy had gotten attacked by Buckbeak.

"I'm dying!" Malfoy yelled as the class panicked. "I'm dying, look at me! It's killed me!"

Ivory turned from the Hippogriff she had been petting happily, her happy mood brightening at the sight of the blonde prat fallen on the floor. "Serves him right, bet his daddy's gonna cry just as much as he is," she snickered behind her shoulder, Ron joining in with a snort as he stealthily high-fived the girl behind their robes. While Harry had definitely enjoyed the sight of Draco's pain he didn't enjoy Ivory and Ron growing closer, especially so much as to where their shoulders were almost touching.

Maybe it was jealousy that made him feel dejected for the rest of the class, or maybe it was the Slytherins shouting about Hagrid, but the boy couldn't help but keep his head down more than usual. Sadly though, no one questioned his behaviour. Even Ivory, who had clearly sensed his change in mood, kept it to herself, merely blaming it on the idea of Hagrid would get in trouble.

"You think he'll be all right?" said Hermione nervously. 

"Course he will. Madam Pomfrey can mend cuts in about a second," said Harry.

"That was a really bad thing to happen in Hagrid's first class, though, wasn't it?" said Ron, looking worried. "Trust Malfoy to mess things up for him..." They were among the first to reach the Great Hall at dinnertime, hoping to see Hagrid, but he wasn't there. 

"They wouldn't fire him, would they?" said Hermione anxiously, not touching her steak and kidney pudding. 

"They'd better not," said Ron, who wasn't eating either. 

"Wasn't even the guys fault, stupid Draco got too cocky," Ivory finished. Mushing her potatoes with her fork violently as she stared towards the Slytherin table, which held a bunch of third years whispering behind their hands. She scoffed and turned to Harry, who had also been watching the table. Though he was more focused on Crabbe and Goyle who would probably be cooking up a good excuse for their best buddy Malfoy. 

"Think they get together once a month for a threesome?" She asked with a wicked grin, making Harry drop his fork in shock. His face becoming paler as his eyes widened at her. 

He slapped her arm and her grin broke off into a frown as she slapped him back. Soon the two were covertly kicking each other under the table every chance they got. Completely unknown to anyone who decided to look in their direction. To be fair if you did, you would scare away by Ivory's piercing look that she currently sent to Harry. Him also sending one right back. And while from a distance it would seem they were fighting it was the complete opposite, in fact, it couldn't be farther from the truth.

That night when they did their best to study and finish McGonagall's papers, none of the four could seem to focus. All their eyes diverting towards the window in the common room at least once for every 30 words they read.

"There's a light on in Hagrid's window," Harry said suddenly. 

Ron looked at his watch. "If we hurried, we could go down and see him. It's still quite early..."

"I don't know," Hermione said slowly, and Harry saw her glance at him. 

"I'm allowed to walk across the grounds," he said pointedly. "You-Know-Who hasn't got past theDementors yet, has he?"

At first, Ivory thought they were conversing about Voldemort, but then their conversation on the train came into play and she quickly rearranged her expression to one of even more confusion. They still hadn't known.

"Voldemort's back already? Thought it would at least be another year.." She trailed off, as the attention was brought to her now. They could all tell she had known something, though none of them could decipher what exactly, as the girl had gotten very good at hiding her true emotions when needed.

"Right uhm, we should probably tell you," Harry said, as he then began to explain everything once more. And while Ivory had heard this before when eavesdropping, the felt a sense of pride knowing that they had trusted her so much with this information.

At the end of his story Harry turned expectedly to her, only to see her still with the look she had given him when listening. "Is that it? Well, Sirius Black isn't so bad, we might as well go before nightfall," she stated, standing and dusting her skirt off as she walked to the portrait hole.

So, without another thought the three followed behind her as she led them towards the small home, which in the distance looked more like a big mushroom to her than anything.

The grass was still wet and looked almost black in the twilight. When they reached Hagrid's hut,they knocked, and a voice growled, "C'min." 

Hagrid was sitting in his shirtsleeves at his scrubbed wooden table; his boarhound, Fang, had hishead in Hagrid's lap. One look told them that Hagrid had been drinking a lot; there was a pewtertankard almost as big as a bucket in front of him, and he seemed to be having difficulty gettingthem into focus. 

Poor thing, Ivory thought.

"'Spect it's a record," he said thickly, when he recognized them. "Don' reckon they've ever hada teacher who lasted on'y a day before." 

"You haven't been fired, Hagrid!" gasped Hermione, with the black haired girl nodding behind her feverishly. She hoped he saw it in the supporting manner she was trying to get across. Otherwise it would just seem strange.

"Not yet," said Hagrid miserably, taking a huge gulp of whatever was in the tankard. "But's onlya matter o' time, I'n't, after Malfoy..." 

"How is he?" said Ron as they all sat down. "It wasn't serious, was it?" 

"Madam Pomfrey fixed him best she could," said Hagrid dully, "but he's sayin' it's still agony...covered in bandages... moanin'..." 

"He's faking it," said Harry at once. "Madam Pomfrey can mend anything. She regrew half mybones last year. Trust Malfoy to milk it for all it's worth." 

She nodded more, only when she actually consumed Harry's words did she actually realize what the actual living hell he had just said.

In an instant her eyes darted to the boy who lived, only to see his usual casual manner staring back at her in confusion. "You had half your bones regrown last year?" She asked cautiously, eyeing the boy for any evidence he might be joking. Only to be very disturbed by the fact he just gave her a simple nod and smile as he turned back to the giant. Leaving poor Ivory in a very befuddled state.

"School gov'nors have bin told, o' course," said Hagrid miserably. "They reckon I started toobig. Shoulda left Hippogriffs fer later... one flobberworms or summat... Jus' thought it'd make agood firs' lesson's all my fault..." 

"It's all Malfoy's fault, Hagrid!" said Hermione earnestly. 

"We're witnesses," said Harry. "You said Hippogriffs attack if you insult them. It's Malfoy'sproblem that he wasn't listening. We'll tell Dumbledore what really happened." 

"Bet I could get some of the Slytherin boy's to back us up!" She winked cheekily, yet the glare Harry gave her made her back down, resorting to a few trying words of comfort.

"Erm, we could get the rest of the Gryffindor's to help.."

"Yeah, don't worry, Hagrid, we'll back you up," said Ron. 

Tears leaked out of the crinkled corners of Hagrid's beetle-black eyes. He grabbed both Harryand Ron and pulled them into a bone-breaking hug. This made Ivory giggle, as she had thankfully backed away when she saw Hagrid's tears. Emotions made her uncomfortable most the time.

"I think you've had enough to drink, Hagrid," said Hermione firmly. She took the tankard fromthe table and went outside to empty it. 

"Ah, maybe she's right," said Hagrid, letting go of Harry and Ron, who both staggered away,rubbing their ribs. Hagrid heaved himself out of his chair and followed Hermione unsteadilyoutside. They heard a loud splash. 

Ivory decided this would be a good time to walk over to Harry and gently massage his hand in hers, giving him a small smile.

"What's he done?" said Harry nervously as Hermione came back in with the empty tankard.

"Stuck his head in the water barrel," said Hermione, putting the tankard away. 

Hagrid came back, his long hair and beard sopping wet, wiping the water out of his eyes. 

"That's better," he said, shaking his head like a dog and drenching them all. "Listen, it was goodof yeh ter come an' see me, I really —" 

Hagrid stopped dead, staring at Harry as though he'd only just realized he was there. 

"WHAT D'YEH THINK YOU'RE DOIN', EH?" he roared, so suddenly that they jumped a footin the air. "YEH'RE NOT TO GO WANDERIN' AROUND AFTER DARK, HARRY! AN, YOU THREE! LETTIN' HIM!" 

Hagrid strode over to Harry, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the door. 

"C'mon!" Hagrid said angrily. "I'm takin' yer all back up ter school an' don' let me catch yeh walkin' down ter see me after dark again. I'm not worth that!"


	9. 0.0.8

Ivory

The next morning was chaotic in comparison to the others she had awoken to. While living with 5 brothers for most her life had always been the cause to some squabbles and fights here and there, she had majorly underestimated how long it took for 13-year-old girls to all get ready. So when the occasion arose itself to her she wasn't prepared in any way shape or form.

When she awoke Ivory could only assume a storm had snuck in through the window at the brink of dawn, because when the light finally gathered she could see the wreckage of a fight.

Torn bed sheets and scattered clothes across the maple floor, smears and smudges of what looked like makeup decorated the dark wood walls and the remains of a scratched and ripped pillow lay ominously in the very middle of it all. To say it looked like something horrible had happened was being generous.

It looked like a muggles horror movie set.

With no idea how or why any of this happened the confused girl could only stumble out of bed and head to her shared bathroom. Which inside, gave a small clue as to what had developed in the night when she fell to sleep.

The shower curtain was piled into the tub, sitting on its edge a crying and seemingly devastated Lavender Brown. Who's curly and wavy hair was all over the place, beside her being Parvati Patil, comforting the girl as she weeped into her hands.

"So... Occupied?" She asked awkwardly as her eyes darted anywhere but to the two tan girls across from her. 

"Obviously," Parvati hissed, as she rubbed circle's onto Lavenders back in a soothing fashion.

"Well what happened?" She said as she sat down on the rim of the bathtub, though farther from the two girls so Lavender wouldn't be quite as uncomfortable. 

"She burned herself when trying to straighten her hair," Parvati explained, as Lavender stayed quiet. With the exception of a few sniffles here and there.

"I- I was trying to impress this H- Hufflepuff boy cause," she choked, her voice raspy. "He said he liked girls w- with straight hair!" she cried, her sobs racking her body as Parvati hushed her kindly.

"Well, that's stupid," Ivory said plainly.

"Excuse me?" The two girls asked at once, Lavender through choked and heavy breaths and Parvati through a rude tone.

"I- Well I mean what kind of boy would say that? Straight hair's boring. I hate mine there's nothing special about it, just easier to manage and style. Your's is curly and beautiful, it comes from a long line of heritage. Yours tells a story with each swirl, straight hair just flops around. Why change it?" She rambled as her mind wandered. Though when she turned towards the two girls she saw Parvati grinning at her, and Lavender staring at her with tired yet thankful eyes.

"Oh, Ivory thank you," Lavender said as she brought the puzzled girl into a hug. "What for?" Ivory asked, wrapping her arms reassuringly around the tan skinned girl. "For telling me I don't need to change for a boy," she told, leaning back to look Ivory in the eyes. 

Just then an easy knock was heard by the door. All three of them turned to see Hermione standing with their other dorm mate, Mimi Reyes, an asian student that had transferred just a year before Ivory.

"Are you guy's ok? Why's there a mess outside?" Hermione asked cautiously, as she wandered into the bathroom, Mimi following behind. 

"Lavender was trying to find her straightening iron and uh.. Well she accidentally stepped on your cat's tail-" Parvati explained slowly, getting cut off by Hermione gasping and running out.

"Well, I like your hair right now Lavender!" Mimi smiled wistfully, taking the previously depressed girl's hand and patting it in hers. Lavender smiled up at her while Parvati simply stared, a faraway look in her eye. 

"Anyways, I think we must all get ready," Mimi said as she let go, letting Lavenders hand flop down back into Parvati's. "Who wants to go first?"

And so, after everything was sorted out and Lavender had apologized to Crookshank's, the 5 girls got ready for their second morning at Hogwarts. Preparation seemed to take forever though, as each had to take their shower, apply any makeup they wanted, comb through their hair, (And with both Lavender and Hermione having long curls they took a lot longer to get ready.) and brush their teeth. Two hours had sped by in a blast, in those two hours though Ivory hadn't even touched her bathrobe or her towel. Each of the girls having had taken at the very least half an hour. It was really lucky they had all woken up at the time they did, otherwise they would all have to rush to the great hall.

But, with her luck that exactly what she had to do.

The last to shower was Mimi, so when she stepped out and saw the clock she quickly sped away, throwing her books and parchment into her bag as she slammed the dorm door.

Ivory, who had been reading up on Quidditch tactics in her spare time, had only just realized where the hour and minute hand were pointed to. So when she looked towards it she felt her eyes pop from their sockets. Now with only 15 minutes before their first class she quickly leapt in the shower, washed her hair through and through, styled it to her liking, brushed her teeth and had somehow managed to get her books, quill, ink pot and spare parchment all into her messenger bag and run down to the great hall. 

Sadly though, she had missed breakfast, but was able to get directions to the kitchen by a kind house elf, who had said if she asked for some food she would be able to grab a plate and eat it quickly before classes.

Her next obstacle seemed to be finding the kitchen though. As while the elf had pointed out each direction and turn, it had only led her to a large painting with fruit on the front. 

Thank Merlin a house elf had emerged from behind it and told her how to let herself into the kitchen, nevertheless she had waited and stood there for a good 20 minutes in a struggle and huff.

In as much rush as she could Ivory had scarfed down a bagel and some eggs before darting all the way to the other side of the castle to get into potions class. When she finally did arrive at the large wooden door she took a moment to consider her next actions.

She could of course skip this period, and not get in trouble for turning up late and be spared a lecture for a short while. Sadly, that would probably lead to a punishment.

Or, she could go in now and say she had been coughing before and needed a vial from Madame Pomfrey before attending class.

Deciding either way, she would have her ear bitten off and probably a detention, she opened the door as quietly as possible as she slinked across the room to a table where Harry and Ron had sat. Of course though, with the addition of Draco Malfoy, a bitter pureblood who would do anything to spite any Gryffindor, she was caught. 

"Professor," he sung, an evil snare on his face as the greasy haired man turned to their direction. "My dear friend, Ivory seems to have made it to your class a little late.. Might she receive a punishment?" He grinned maliciously, as the tall and lanky teacher sneered down at the Gryffindor.

"Yes, good thinking Draco, 10 points from Gryffindor," Snape frowned. Then again, when had anyone seen him smile in the presence of her sort of Hogwarts house.

"That's not fair!" She whined, making her two friends at the table stare at her harshly. Ron putting his finger over his lip in a hushing way and Harry waving his hand across his neck, as to say 'cut it out.'

"I believe it is fair, Malonsi, now would you like to make it 20? How about 50?" Snape tested, slamming his hands onto her table as he stared harshly at her. 

She bore her eyes into his in a tired tone as she simply said, "Maybe if you smiled for once your students would listen to you," and with that she stood up harshly. Her and the pale teacher competing in a staring contest as the class watched in awe, fear and exhilaration.

"20 points from Gryffindor and a weeks detention, Malonsi," Snape seethed behind gritted teeth. This only seemed to piss the girl off more, as she flopped back into her seat. Not before muttering a small, "I hope you get Avada Kedavra'd" 

Somehow, and to her and every other Gryffindor's complete distraught Snape had heard her rude comment and harshly turned back. His shoulders tensing as he bellowed, "two weeks detention, 50 points from Gryffindor and head to Dumbledore's office, NOW!"

So, her day got even worse, as she was forced to climb multiple flights of stairs to reach the statue that stood prominently before the headmaster's office. But, just then she realized she had completely forgotten the password. And without another thought she shrugged it off and headed down to her next class.

Because of her early dismissal she was also early to DADA (Defense Against the Dark Arts.)

When she reached the class she came to the sight of their new professor, Lupin, hunched over his desk, massaging his head tiredly. 

"Professor?" She knocked, her voice more timid than she had liked.

The man in question turned to the voice and saw her standing in the doorway, her posture awkward as she watched him sigh. Though it was quickly replaced with a kind smile as he gestured her to come over to his desk.

"Ivory, am I right?" He asked, his voice calming her down from the last class. She didn't know why but she felt a strong connection to the man, even if her idea of him from the train hadn't been all that nice. So she nodded her head and gave him a soft look as her riffled through some parchment. "Why are you here so early? Class doesn't start for another 30 minutes," he asked, looking between her and his quill.

"Ah well, I- It's a long story, see I had class with Snape-" She was cut off as Professor. Lupin stifled a laugh. "No need to explain more, Snape is a.. Strange fellow." 

"Thats one way to put it," she grinned as she looked to the floor. While she felt good about standing up to the man, a tinge of guilt still hit her as she realized she had lost her house a good 50 points. "Sir, did you know Snape before you started teaching here?" She asked curiously, as the school year had only began a while ago and while it was easy to make assumptions, Lupin didn't seem like the person to do so.

"It's complicated really," he smiled with a far away look, "I was in his year when I attended Hogwarts. Of course, he wasn't the best person back then too, though I can't say I was any better.." 

"I don't think that was true Professor, I mean I've only just met you and you seem cooler then the other one's here! Though you are tied with McGonagall," Ivory said. Lupin stared up at her for a second before smiling, ruffling her hair in a fatherly fashion. 

"Right well, would you want to help me get ready for the class then?" He asked as he stood from his seat. It was at that moment that Ivory realized the man could literally tower over her, as he was a good 6'2, which made him a lot higher than Ivory's 5'1 height. 

After her discovery, (which wasn't really a discovery and more so a revelation.) Ivory and the Professor walked a while's away to the staff room which stood empty and quiet, the exception being a rocking wardrobe in the corner. Each of its legs pounding against the floor as it swung forward and back. The dark wood door's threatening to swing off their hinges with each Smack! against the floor.

"What's in there sir?" Ivory asked curiously, as she slowly stepped towards the closed dresser, her hand outreached as her fingers grazed the handle. Only for her to be pulled back by Professor Lupin's hand on her arm. "In there is a Boggart, which will be your next classes lesson," the tall man explained as he took out his wand. He waved it through the air gracefully and said, "Wingardium Leviosa," making the wardrobe soar towards the middle of the room. "If you would be so kind as to help me sweep quickly before the class that would be spectacular my dear Ivory."

She nodded her head as she happily grabbed her wand, chanting a spell her mother had taught her and transforming her wand into a vacuum like tool. The wand sucking in any excess dust that had clattered around the area. In the background she could hear Lupin reading over a few of his sheets of parchment, each line sounding like a small introduction he was going to use for an interview. Her only guess about why he was doing this was that he was nervous for his first class. She could only imagine what it would be like, teaching at Hogwarts. To be honest, the title sounded very intriguing.

It took them a while, (25 minutes to be precise) but they were able to clean up and Lupin was able to rehearse his opening a few times, with Ivory commenting here and there. The two had gotten close in their shared time. Ivory beginning to look up to him like a father figure she never truly got.

"Professor, is there anything else that we should get finished?" Ivory asked as she disfigured her wand back into its original form. 

"Not that I can think of- " though he stopped himself midway and muttered a hushed, "shit."

Ivory feigned a heartbroken gasp as Lupin scattered his papers back into his briefcase with a chuckle. The two sprinted out of the room, Ivory struggling to keep up with the taller man as his legs were a lot longer than her own. Thankfully, she had managed to stay up to speed because while Lupin had the longer legs, she had more energy from her youth.

The two were able to rush up into Lupin's office and grab and put back whatever he had needed. Then, as quickly as they had managed to get there, they were able to rush back to the doors of the classroom. Apparently though they weren't able to get there at the exact time, as there was a loud chattering and clatter behind the log doors. She looked warmly towards Lupin, but her thoughts of happiness were stopped as she saw the look of pure nerve on his face. His features scrunched up as he held himself to taking deep breaths. His hands fidgeted in their closed fold as he paced backwards and forwards in the hall before the door. 

"Professor, take a deep breath, you're safe," she said as she tried her best to comfort the panicking man. His nimble body twitchy as he stood still as possible, his feet rooted to the ground where he was. "Trust me, you're going to be fine. Everyone will love you and you're about to be the best Defense professor they've had throughout every year!" she said as she rubbed her hands down the mans arms. While she was never good with emotions, she was good with feelings of dread or anxiety.

"Sorry, yeah.. Right," he sighed, running his hand through his hair as he sucked in a deep breath. "You shouldn't've had to do that for me, Vee." 

She smiled gently at the man, her heart warming at the nickname he had given her. It was the exact same one her brother called her by, and she could not be more happy when Lupin had decided to give it to her as well. She felt small tears prick in her eyes, but she wiped them away as quickly as they came. "It's alright sir."

So with that the two entered the room, Lupin smiling vaguely at everyone as he set his tattered old briefcase on his desk. Ivory following proudly behind him with a smug expression on her face, as everyone watched the two intently.

"Good afternoon," he said. "Would you please put all your books back in your bags. Today's will be a practical lesson. You will need only your wands."

A few curious looks were exchanged as the class put away their books. The short black haired girl grinned at her three friends across the room, Harry giving her a raised eyebrow. To which she simply shrugged and gave him a wink, making his cheeks flare up.

"Right then," said Professor Lupin, when everyone was ready. "If you'd follow me." 

Puzzled but interested, the class got to its feet and followed Professor Lupin out of the classroom. He led them along the deserted corridor and around a corner, where the first thing they saw was Peeves the Poltergeist, who was floating upside down in midair and stuffing the nearest keyhole with chewing gum.

Peeves didn't look up until Professor Lupin was two feet away; then he wiggled his curly-toed feet and broke into song. 

"Loony, loopy Lupin," Peeves sang. "Loony, loopy Lupin, loony, loopy Lupin —" 

Everyone looked quickly at Professor Lupin to see how he would take this; to their surprise, he was still smiling.

"I'd take that gum out of the keyhole if I were you, Peeves," he said pleasantly. "Mr. Filch won't be able to get in to his brooms." 

However, Peeves paid no attention to Professor Lupin's words, except to blow a loud wet raspberry. At this Ivory stuck her thumbs in her ears and wiggled her fingers in a taunting manner, making the ghosts grin widen. 

Professor Lupin gave a small sigh and took out his wand. 

"This is a useful little spell," he told the class over his shoulder. "Please watch closely." 

He raised the wand to shoulder height, said, "Waddiwasi!" and pointed it at Peeves. 

With the force of a bullet, the wad of chewing gum shot out of the keyhole and straight down Peeves's left nostril; he whirled upright and zoomed away, cursing. 

"Cool, sir!" said Dean Thomas in amazement. 

"Thank you, Dean," said Professor Lupin, putting his wand away again. "Shall we proceed?" 

They set off again, the class looking at shabby Professor Lupin with increased respect. He led them down a second corridor and stopped, right outside the staffroom door. 

"Inside, please," said Professor Lupin, opening it and standing back. 

The staffroom, a long, paneled room full of old, mismatched chairs, was empty except for one teacher. Professor Snape was sitting in a low armchair, and he looked around as the class filed in. His eyes were glittering and there was a nasty sneer playing around his mouth. As Professor Lupin came in and made to close the door behind him, Snape said, "Leave it open, Lupin. I'd rather not witness this." He got to his feet and strode past the class, his black robes billowing behind him. At the doorway he turned on his heel and said, "Possibly no one's warned you, Lupin, but this class contains Neville Longbottom and Ivory Malonsi. I would advise you not to entrust him with anything difficult. Not unless Miss Granger is hissing instructions in his ear." 

"And unless you want someone wishing the killing curse upon you, you shouldn't speak to Miss Malonsi, of course, she also has no respect for her superiors." He sneered, his harsh gaze falling on the now pale white girl. Of course, she had no fear of the greasy git, but she definitely didn't like Lupin hearing about her actions.

Neville went scarlet. That's when Ivory decided to ignore her own problem and absorb herself into the timid boy's. It was disgusting the professor thought it professional at all to bully his own students. In a classroom fine, he could dish out any punishment he wanted. But that should never include the abuse of his own pupil. Especially in front of other teachers. What absolutely shameful behavior.

If it weren't for Lupin speaking up, Ivory didn't doubt she would've thrown a few more 'disrespectful words' towards the grim teacher.

"I was hoping that Neville would assist me with the first stage of the operation," he said, "and I am sure he will perform it admirably." 

Neville's face went, if possible, even redder.

"And dear Ivory here had helped me before the class begun. Might I add without any disrespect or back talk, and with an admirable amount of dedication."

Said girl glowed rosy red, her eyes darting to the ground as she smiled.

Snape's lip curled, but he left, shutting the door with a snap. 


	10. 0.0.9

Ivory

"Now, then," said Professor Lupin, beckoning the class toward the end of the room, where there was nothing but an old wardrobe where the teachers kept their spare robes. As Professor Lupin went to stand next to it, the wardrobe gave a sudden wobble, banging off the wall. 

"Nothing to worry about," said Professor Lupin calmly because a few people had jumped backward in alarm. "There's a Boggart in there." 

Most people seemed to feel that this was something to worry about. Neville gave Professor Lupin a look of pure terror, and Seamus Finnigan eyed the now rattling doorknob apprehensively.

"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces," said Professor Lupin. "Wardrobes, the gap beneath beds, the cupboards under sinks — I've even met one that had lodged itself in a grandfather clock. This one moved in yesterday afternoon, and I asked the headmaster if the staff would leave it to give my third years some practice. 

"So, the first question we must ask ourselves is, what is a Boggart?" 

Hermione put up her hand. 

"It's a shape-shifter," she said. "It can take the shape of whatever it thinks will frighten us most." 

"Couldn't have put it better myself," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione glowed. "So the Boggart sitting in the darkness within has not yet assumed a form. He does not yet know what will frighten the person on the other side of the door. Nobody knows what a Boggart looks like when he is alone, but when I let him out, he will immediately become whatever each of us most fears. 

"This means," said Professor Lupin, choosing to ignore Neville's small sputter of terror, "that we have a huge advantage over the Boggart before we begin. Have you spotted it, Harry?" 

"Er — because there are so many of us, it won't know what shape it should be?" 

"Precisely," said Professor Lupin, and Hermione put her hand down, looking a little disappointed. "It's always best to have company when you're dealing with a Boggart. He becomes confused. Which should he become, a headless corpse or a flesh-eating slug? I once saw a Boggart make that very mistake — tried to frighten two people at once and turned himself into half a slug. Not remotely frightening."

Hermione seemed to let out a girly giggle at this, making Ron and Ivory turn to her with a look of confusion, Ivory also sporting one of disgust. She was sure she had heard that type of laugh many times by girls back at Beauxbatons. They used it whenever trying to flirt with a village boy.

So when her new best friend decided to use it on her new father figure, (and favorite teacher), she faked a hurl. This only made Hermione and hit the girl though, before returning all her attention to the new professor.

'The charm that repels a Boggart is simple, yet it requires force of mind. You see, the thing that really finishes a Boggart is laughter. What you need to do is force it to assume a shape that you find amusing. 

"We will practice the charm without wands first. After me, please... riddikulus!" 

"Riddikulus!" said the class together. 

"Good," said Professor Lupin. "Very good. But that was the easy part, I'm afraid. You see, the word alone is not enough. And this is where you come in, Neville." 

And thats when the wardrobe decided to shake, though not as much as the shy boy. Who unfortunately had been picked on to be their guinea pig. She could only assume Lupin had no idea of Neville's anxiety, as he seemed to carry on without mentioning it further then an "its ok."

So, Neville fearfully walked towards the wardrobe, out popping their potions professor Snape with his usual snare. The boy trembled in his boots.

"R — r — riddikulus! " squeaked Neville. 

There was a noise like a whip crack. Snape stumbled; he was wearing a long, lace-trimmed dress and a towering hat topped with a moth-eaten vulture, and he was swinging a huge crimson handbag. 

There was a roar of laughter; the Boggart paused, confused, and Professor Lupin shouted, "Parvati! Forward!" 

Parvati walked forward, her face set. Snape rounded on her. There was another crack, and where he had stood was a bloodstained, bandaged mummy; its sightless face was turned to Parvati and it began to walk toward her very slowly, dragging its feet, its stiff arms rising —

"Riddikulus!" cried Parvati. 

A bandage unraveled at the mummy's feet; it became entangled, fell face forward, and its head rolled off.

"Seamus!" roared Professor Lupin. 

Crack! a Banshee.

"Riddikulus!" 

Crack! The banshee turned into a rat, which chased its tail in a circle, then —crack!- became a rattlesnake, which slithered and writhed before —crack! — becoming a single, bloody eyeball. 

"It's confused!" shouted Lupin. "We're getting there! Dean!" 

Ivory had quite enjoyed the lesson, everyone being able to face their fears as best they could, and turning them into jokes. It was hilarious, and educational. One of the things that made it better was that the class was mostly Gryffindors, so everyone felt brave enough to do what they had to.

So then went Dean, then Ron, who's Boggart had transformed into a spider. Next was Ivory, something she had honestly been secretly dreading.

It wasn't like she was a necessarily fearful person, in fact, quite the opposite. She loved adventure and anything that would give her a rush of adrenaline. But when she realized her worst fear would be shown openly in the class, she had to stop herself from running to the back of the line.

She took a deep breath, her heart still pounding in her ears, and stepped towards the now legless spider. 

The boggart slowly transformed itself, mist covering it as it did. When it finally emerged though, everyone in the room paused, most in confusion, and only a few in realization.

It had become a small, 6 year old boy. His appearance almost identical to Ivory's.

A pale face with white, snowy skin and blue eyes that held no emotion, in fact, they held no life in them either. They were clouded over with a white glaze as they stared blankly into Ivory's. And she swore you could hear a pin needle drop at that moment.

Her ears rung loudly as she felt her heart burst and break like glass. Her eye's watered and soiled themselves as she stared hopefully at the sickly thin boy. And she whispered, almost hauntedly, "Carter?"

And then, the sallow boy fell forward to his knees, his hand outreached to her as he did. His head flopping and hitting his chin against his chest as it drooped lifelessly. High pitched shrieks sounded through the room as the girl's in the back saw blood run from his eyes, almost like tears. His fingertips reaching towards the ghostly white girl in front of him. The one haunted and terrified as she watched the small boy.

With all her will power she slowly raised her wand, her hand and body shaking violently as she had to stop her tears from flowing with a bite of her lip. She let it go, and breathed out the spell.

"R— Rid — Riddikulus!"

So with that, the boggart turned itself into a dancing boy, his face painted white and red like a clown's as he danced. But no one could seem to laugh, all of them still shocked and bewildered by what it had been only moments ago. Then Lupin stopped the lesson. Letting everyone out of the room. 

"Well done, everyone... Let me see... five points to Gryffindor for every person to tackle the Boggart— an extra 20 for Ivory as she helped with the lesson... and five each to Hermione and Harry." 

"But I didn't do anything," said Harry.

"You and Hermione answered my questions correctly at the start of the class, Harry," Lupin said lightly. "Very well, everyone, an excellent lesson. Homework, kindly read the chapter on Boggarts and summarize it for me... to be handed in on Monday. That will be all." 

Everyone slowly paced themselves out of the classroom, a good few still shaken up, though none as bad as Ivory looked.

Her skin was deathly pale against the torches light in the halls. Her blue eyes losing their usual mischief, being replaced only by a look so empty and scared you would assume she just saw a ghost. Worst of all though, even from afar you could see her hands trembling, their shaking almost as much as a leaf in the wind.

For a few moments, a few dreadful moments, she was left only to her thoughts. Her head stuck in its own little world as she remembered the expression on the young boys face before he collapsed, and the words he had uttered out darkly. The words only she had heard.

Then, thankfully, Hermione spoke up. "What an interesting lesson.." She said thoughtfully, careful not to mention Ivory's Boggart.

"Yeah, though I would've liked to see my Boggart," Harry continued, but he stopped when Ivory tensed.

Ron, clearly not picking up on the twos subtle hints to not talk about what had happened, asked clearly, "Who was the little boy Ivory?"

And they all stopped walking. Except Ron of course, who saw nothing wrong with the innocent question. Though he quickly regretted it once Hermione had hit him with her book, and once he saw Ivory's eyes widen.

Then, all the attention was on her again. They wanted an answer. She had to give them one. She had to give them an answer.

Her steadied breathing quickly caught in her throat when she thought it through. They would need an answer.

They NEEDED an answer. 

She had an answer. 

No she didn't?

Yes she did.

She had an answer.

But she couldn't say it.

Without another thought she ran. She ran as fast and as far as her weak legs would take her. She ran and she stumbled through the halls, teachers and students alike watching her retreating figure as she went to who knows where.

Thats when she fell. She fell into an empty corridor, the torches in it unlit and yet they gave her some warmth, comfort.

She pushed herself against the cold wall and closed her arms over her head. Her body shaking and teetering from forward to back, her back hitting the wall seeming to be the only thing grounding her at that moment.

Breath in. Hold for 3. Out for 5.

She repeated this in her head over and over, almost like an incantation, almost as if if she didn't she would die. 

And thats exactly how it felt.

Her lungs felt so closed, so entwined together she felt like they were being crushed under a boulder. It felt like her throat was closing faster and faster with each passing second, and all she could do was gasp and sob.

In that moment she wanted nothing more than to disappear, nothing more than to become one with the hall her head kept hitting. And to just vanish, to never exist again. 

All she could think about was that one moment, years and years ago. The moment when he decided to ruin her life. When he though it a good idea to the unthinkable right in front of a 10 year old girl. When he killed his own son, right in front of his daughter.


	11. 0.1.0

Harry

It had been a good few weeks since Ivory's out lash, and none of the trio had brought it up since. Whenever they thought it was slowly making its way into the conversation, they all quickly changed the topic.

And while most of the group was concerned for her, none were more than Harry.

He had spent hours in class watching her from a far to make sure she was OK, to make sure she wasn't going to run away again and scare him. He knew that she had had a bad past, she told him herself. But he still couldn't seem to understand who the pale boy from her Boggart was. To be quite frank, he didn't want to know. All he wanted to do was hold her and tell her it was alright.

But he couldn't. Because then it would be bringing it back up. And no one wanted to do that to her.

So, he instead focused more on the Quidditch season coming up. The team consisted of older students, their captain Oliver, being the eldest.

Oliver Wood was a burly seventeen-year-old, now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. He was the keeper of the team and a strong willed player.

Next was Angelina Johnson, and John and Kole Malonsi. Two of Ivory's brother who had been in the team since Harry knew when. Luckily though, they focused more on Quidditch than their own sister sometimes. So instead of focusing on her current problems they were more trained on the quaffles. Which would be luckily since from what Harry could see, the two seemed to annoy the poor girl quite a lot. 

Then Fred and George Weasley, Rons older brothers. Pranksters and troublemakers in Hogwarts, and it wasn't a secret that they could piss people off sometimes. But they never failed to make the students smile when they couldn't.

Lastly was Harry himself, the seeker of the team. His job was to catch the Golden snitch and put an end to the game. He was proud of his position. He was the youngest seeker in the past how many years. He was sure his dad would've been proud too. Though he couldn't find out now.

After Olivers long speech Harry and the team had begun their first practice.

Full of determination, the team started training sessions, three evenings a week. The weather was getting colder and wetter, the nights darker, but no amount of mud, wind, or rain could tarnish Harry's wonderful vision of finally winning the huge, silver Quidditch Cup.

One day Harry began walking back to the common room after a hard practice. He was stiff and cold but he had been pleased with their progress.

On his way back he heard a pattering of footsteps behind him, their heels clicking against the marble floor making him turn around. To be met with a face he was always happy to see.

Behind him ran Ivory Malonsi, her black hair falling wet on her shoulders as she ran to catch up with the soaking boy. She had a devious grin on her face as she waved towards him. So he slowed down his walk as she finally caught up and gave him a wink. 

"Wanna hear about my latest idea!" She asked, her smile brightening as Harry nodded his head slowly. He was somewhat frightful of the girls pranks, as her reputation around the school slowly got out and people started calling her the, 'Female Fred and George.'

"Well, I've attached a large net filled with green apples to a tree I learned Draco sits by. And since of course he loves green apples I though he would enjoy having the net full of them fall on his head," she explained. Making hand gestures as she went on. "Its rigged you see! When he sits down he'll pull a string that ties the net up and it'll all fall into his lap. I also put a rock in there for good measure!" 

Harry's eyes widened at the last part. "Wouldn't that be dangerous? And.. Possibly deadly?" 

"Well yeah but—" her grin slowly faded as she stopped walking. "Shit."

He chuckled at her realization as she quickly zoomed backwards, making her way back to where she had probably come from. Her heels clicked and clicked until he couldn't hear them anymore. And he couldn't help the smile and warmth that he felt spread through his face.

When he had arrived back at the common room everyone had been chatting about heading to Hogsmeade. The village Harry hadn't been allowed to go to. He was sad he couldn't go, but he knew he could try and work something out to do at the castle. Eventually he would also find a way to follow everyone to the village. Whether it be sneaking out or having someone forge a signature.

Eventually their talk of Hogsmeade led to another argument between Ron and Hermione. One about Scabbers and Crookshanks of course. Like always. It was growing quite boring to Harry, having his best friends fight over their pets every hour or so. He wondered why they couldn't just make up and be nicer to each other. Though I guess thats what you get when you constantly deny your feelings for one another.

Speaking of feelings.

When the fight had ended and the two had gone to their rooms, the portrait opened to reveal a dripping wet Ivory, her hair somehow now frizzed and burned as well. In fact, there was a small fire on the ends.

When the twins looked at her they broke out into laughter, making her take out her wand and threaten them with a menacing glare. All Harry could do was stay silent as he watched her. 

She stomped by him completely oblivious to his presence, and towards her older twin brothers, John and Kole. The two of them had been playing wizard chess in the corner, though in a weird fashion they would switch seats every few minutes and move each others game pieces. 

"Kole. What the bloody hell," she hissed. Her arms cross tightly across her chest as she stared down at the boy, his legs crossed in the chair that he was situated in.

"I haven't done anything have I, John?" He questioned, looking towards the twin innocently and batting his eyes at his sister.

"Oh no, I don't think you have. Would be a shame if our dear sister accused you of something you haven't done!" John said exasperatedly, putting a hand to his forehead as he leaned over the back of his chair. 

"Oh come off it! You guy's set me up! Little Malfoy was there when I went back and he threw the rock at me... He has terrible aim though, merely scratched me," she said, raising her sleeve to reveal a gash in her arm. Harry winced at it, even from where he was sat you could clearly see the blood oozing from the cut.

"Wow that sucks. Anyways switch time." Kole said boredly as the two rotated seats. Ivory looked at the with a puzzled stare before sighing and turning to head to her room. Though she stopped in her tracks and smiled when she saw Harry sitting down.

Scared she had somehow saw him staring at her he quickly turned his head, finding the wall a lot more interesting with the pale girl creeping behind him. 

She jumped over the back of the sofa and landed beside him on the pillow, her hair flicking drops of rain onto him as she did.

"Hello stalker," she sung, smiling at the red faced boy.

"Who knew people liked you enough to stalk you," he replied cooly, though his voice wavered when he talked.

She smiled though, and punched his arm lightly. "Ouch, rude much!" She joked.

He raised an eyebrow at her as she quickly shook off a lot of the rain that had fell on her. Making people around the common room groan.

"You act like a dog sometimes, you know that?" He asked.

"Course' I do. Why act like anything else!"

"Well I can think of a few reasons. I mean, you wouldn't want your mum finding out that at Hogwarts you eat sticks for fun and chase the mail owls in between classes," Harry said in matter-of-fact way. Which only made her roll her eyes at the boy sitting beside her.

"Wouldn't be the first time she's caught me with a stick in my mouth." She winked, smirking at the boy as his cheeks seemed to redden for the 2nd time.

"Now I see why you got kicked out of Beauxbatons," he sighed jokingly, though he was surprised when the girl scoffed and threw a pillow in his face.

"Really Harry, thats mean," she frowned. Her mood shifting from one of laughter to anger in just a few seconds. "Im gonna go, enjoy whatever you were doing."

And with that she walked up the stairs to her dorm, leaving Harry to wonder what exactly he had done wrong.

The next day both Ron and Ivory wouldn't talk much to the group and it seemed to take a toll on the other two's moods. Even though they were all working on a Puffapod together as a group, the two of them would only have short conversations with each other. Harry eventually explained what had happened between him and Ivory to Hermione, resulting in her also hitting him and scoffing at his actions. Which confused him even more.

"How's Scabbers?" Hermione asked timidly as they stripped fat pink pods from the plants andemptied the shining beans into a wooden pail. 

"He's hiding at the bottom of my bed, shaking," said Ron angrily, missing the pail and scatteringbeans over the greenhouse floor. 

Harry thought it best to be his turn to try and strike up conversation next. So he did, "Look, Ivory i'm really sor-"

"Save it, it doesn't matter that much." She said simply, her gaze focused on the words of her herbology book.

They had Transfiguration next. Harry, who had resolved to ask Professor McGonagall after thelesson whether he could go into Hogsmeade with the rest, joined the line outside the class tryingto decide how he was going to argue his case. He was distracted, however, by a disturbance atthe front of the line. 

Lavender Brown seemed to be crying. Parvati had her arm around her and was explainingsomething to Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were looking very serious. 

"What's the matter, Lavender?" said Hermione anxiously as she, Harry, Ivory, and Ron went to join thegroup. 

"She got a letter from home this morning," Parvati whispered. "It's her rabbit, Binky. He's beenkilled by a fox." 

Ivory frowned next to them, walking to Lavender slowly as she hugged the girl's side. Making her sob even more.

"Oh," said Hermione, "I'm sorry, Lavender."

"I should have known!" said Lavender tragically. "You know what day it is?"

"Er —"

"The sixteenth of October! 'That thing you're dreading, it will happen on the sixteenth ofOctober!' Remember? She was right, she was right!" 

The whole class was gathered around Lavender now. Seamus shook his head seriously.Hermione hesitated; then she said, "You — you were dreading Binky being killed by a fox?" 

"Well, not necessarily by a fox," said Lavender, looking up at Hermione with streaming eyes,"but I was obviously dreading him dying, wasn't I?" 

"Oh," said Hermione. She paused again. Then — 

"Was Binky an old rabbit?" 

Ivory shot the girl a glare, seeming to say 'stop talking.' But she only ignored this and continued on, making her roll her eyes at Hermione. Harry couldn't understand half the things girls did, but he knew that Ivory definitely had a point to try and stop Hermione from provoking Lavender even more.

"N — no!" sobbed Lavender. "H — he was only a baby!" Parvati and Ivory tightened their arms around Lavender's shoulders. 

"But then, why would you dread him dying?" said Hermione. 

Parvati glared at her.

"Well, look at it logically," said Hermione, turning to the rest of the group. "I mean, Binky didn'teven die today, did he? Lavender just got the news today —" Lavender wailed loudly. "– and shecan't have been dreading it, because it's come as a real shock —"

"Don't mind Hermione, Lavender," said Ron loudly, "she doesn't think other people's petsmatter very much." 

Professor McGonagall opened the classroom door at that moment, which was perhaps lucky;Hermione and Ron were looking daggers at each other, and when they got into class, they seatedthemselves on either side of Harry and didn't talk to each other for the whole class. Even Ivory seemed annoyed at Hermione now, her and Ron having situated themselves far away from the other two.

Harry still hadn't decided what he was going to say to Professor McGonagall when the bell rangat the end of the lesson, but it was she who brought up the subject of Hogsmeade first. 

"One moment, please!" she called as the class made to leave. "As you're all in my House, youshould hand Hogsmeade permission forms to me before Halloween. No form, no visiting thevillage, so don't forget!"

Neville put up his hand. "Please, Professor, I — I think I've lost —"

"Your grandmother sent yours to me directly, Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. "Sheseemed to think it was safer. Well, that's all, you may leave."

"Ask her now," Ron hissed at Harry.

"Oh. but —" Hermione began.

Ivory looked between the group confusedly, though she sided with Ron almost immediately. 

"Go for it, Harry," said Ron stubbornly, the black haired girl nodding beside him.

Harry waited for the rest of the class to disappear, then headed nervously for ProfessorMcGonagall's desk. 

Ivory

There were a lot of things Ivory never really understood. Her joining the group late made sure of that, and so sometimes she felt a bit distant to her three friends. But when that happened she would always be able to find someone else to spend time with, and whether it was by pure coincidence or not, this time she had found someone very interesting in her eyes.

A 2nd year with pale blonde hair and pale skin. She looked almost like an angel in a lot of ways which made Ivory skeptical and think she may have been a ghost.

But she wasn't.

She had worn beautiful pink glasses and was dressed in Ravenclaw Robes, her robe reaching the floor and dragging behind her like a long gown. It was one of the only things Ivory could tell made her look human. As she knew the poltergeist in Hogwarts liked to fly through the floors instead of staying standing on them.

So out of curiousity Ivory found herself follow the short girl through the corridors and to the library. When they arrived the blonde sat promptly down on a chair, staring blankly out the window. Her actions confused the girl even more, which, in her opinion, is what made her walk up to the girl by the window.

"Hello?" She asked, sitting down cautiously to the right of the blonde. 

"Good morning," she smiled, her face brightening when she turned to talk.

Now that she was closer Ivory could notice smaller details, like the fact that freckles seemed to dot over every part of her face, or the fact she wore radish earrings.

"M- My names Ivory," she stuttered, in her mind cursing at herself for doing so. She was never nervous around people, so what made this girl different?

"Im Luna," she said though she seemed a bit dazed, "Luna Lovegood. It's nice to meet you Ivory!"

And somehow with that small interaction the two grew close.

They would spend days straying away from their classmates to read in the library, or walk around the forbidden forest. Of course, Ivory always tried to talk Luna out of it. Because while she loved breaking the rules to explore, she didn't enjoy her friends risking getting in trouble as well.

But it didn't seem to matter, they would go into the forest and meet different creatures in there. Luna even told her how it had become a sort of tradition, to at least go into the forest once a week. With their friendship growing, Ivory made a note to follow through with this tradition as well.

The day before Halloween was the one where they planned their next picnic. The two would sneak a basket of food from the kitchens and then head to spend time with the Thestrals. Creatures that could only be seen by few, Ivory and Luna seemed to fit their criteria.

So they snuck into the kitchen, mostly thanks to Luna, and grabbed as much as they could before heading to the forest. But they were stopped when they noticed to figures sitting on the steps to leave. One was a good amount taller, and from what they could make out one had a girlish voice that Ivory almost immediately recognized.

She pulled Luna against the wall and into the shadows of the late evening, making sure the two were out of sight before putting a finger to her lips to signify to stay quiet.

"Oh, well I thought you were mad at me for Crookshanks supposedly killing your rat." Said one voice, their tone one of annoyance as Ivory could feel them rolling their eyes.

"I really can't stay mad at you for that long can I?" The other sighed.

"That's true," the first scoffed, though there was something other than sarcasm in their voice. "Either way we have to find a way to cheer up Harry."

"Why don't we just get him a date with Vee?" The second asked, making the first person shake their head.

"Who's Vee?" 

"Ivory of course! He's mad for her, blimey Hermione can't you pick up on the signs."

And her hunch was no longer a hunch as she continued to listen to the two argue, but something in the back of her mind started to nag at her when Ron talked about Harry having feelings for her. It was quickly gone though when Luna's hand seemed to brush against hers.

"Of course I can, I just didn't know you two were so close you gave her a nickname," Hermione whispered.

"Well yeah, she's like a sister, even Ginny agrees that she's nice. Though i don't really see them hanging out.." He trailed off.

"She's always hanging around the second year now, what was it.." 

"Lovegold?"

"No... Loony Lovegood! That's it!" Hermione finally said, clapping her hands.

"Loony? Is that her real name?" Ron asked, a bit skeptical.

"Well no... Its Luna... But everyone calls her Loony since she's well... A bit strange."

"That's true, though I bet you wouldn't say that in front of them, they're joined at the hip, im telling ya.'"

"I think it's more Ivory needing more friends other than us, we don't really include her as much," Hermione said, a frown evident in her voice.

"She only arrived this year so of course!"

"Still, I wish we could tell her about more things, but I guess thats Harry's decision.." She breathed airily.

"I bet he'd tell her about anything other than his feelings for her," Ron snickered.

"Oh shut up!" Hermione exclaimed, slapping the boy.

"Ow! Hermione!" He whined, rubbing his arm.

"Honestly Ron, what he decides to tell her is his own business... Now let's go he should be back from practice by now." Hermione spoke as the two walked down the hall and towards the common rooms.

Ivory finally let out a breath of relief as she turned back to Luna, who had apparently spaced out through their entire conversation.

"Luna? Let's go," Ivory told her, pulling on the girls arm a bit harsher than she intended. But she knew the Thestrals liked to move their group every few moons and tomorrows would be a new one.

"Hm? oh of course.." The blonde girl replied, skipping towards the Forbidden Forest with the basket of muffins and fruit.

When they arrived in the clearing they had only found a few Thestrals. They both assumed the rest had wandered off for a little while, as the two girls liked to arrive early every once in a while.

The next hour or two was spent feeding the skeletal horses, each of them having a specific favourite fruit that luckily, the girls had remembered.

After feeding the horses the two sat down on a blanket Ivory had brought with her under her robes. It was fluffy and just large enough for the two to lie on.

They spent the first half of their time connecting Luna's freckles with a feather like constellations, the second half was spent eating the rest of their muffins and talking about nothing and somehow everything.

The topics ranged from family, to the beginning of the universe, to their favourite writings and poems.

Every minute they spent together they unconsciously inched closer until they had been lying shoulder to shoulder and looking up at the starry sky.

And before she could even think about her actions, Ivory took Luna's hand into her own.


	12. 0.1.1

Ivory

After her time with Luna Ivory decided to stay at Hogwarts instead of going to the magical village with everyone else. She had done some research on Harry's past, (mainly about his relationship to Voldemort. Mainly, mainly, to make sure he wasn't a part of the man's group at all) and found that Halloween was a special day for him. Whether he generally knew it or not.

So, without a second thought, she told McGonagall she felt sick that day and stayed inside the castle.

When she had rushed back to her common room she was able to catch up with the boy himself.

"Harry! Hey, Harry! Stop walking you twat!" Ivory called, trying her best to run after him. Though he seemed to be in his own world. And so, for the sake of karma, she jumped on his back as soon as she was close enough.

"Ow! What the bloody hell?" He yelped, shoving the girl harshly off his back. "Wait.. what're you doing here? Dont you have your form signed?"

"Well yeah but uhh..." She trailed off with a smile and fake coughed into her arm, "Im sick."

Harry smiled softly at her and turned back to look down the hallway. "Well, I was going to go to the library—"

"Oh thats boring, let's do something fun. We could sneak into the Slytherin common room and plant Niffler's in there to steal their stuff," she asked. putting her hands together to clap happily.

Harry stayed silent, sighing dramatically as he rolled his eyes at her antics. Which only made her laugh at his reaction, "Oh come on! You know you want to," she teased.

He looked down, hiding his smile as he ran a hand through his hair. "Fine, but I think we should do something instead of.. what was it? Nibblers?—"

He was cut off as Ivory's eyes darted between him and behind him, so out of curiosity he turned around. Coming face to face with Mr. Filch, the janitor in Hogwarts.

When you only spend a few months at the school you can never know that much, but what you can learn pretty easily is the Mr. Filch was filthy. He spends more time 'cleaning' the school than showering himself. In her first month there Ivory had been caught by Filch in a small predicament (She had been hiding with Fred and George on a broom closet, trying to get a bucket so they could pour paint on Crabbe and Goyle.) and he had given her atleast 2 weeks detention. Ones where she had to clean up the school. At that point she thought the only reason the school wasn't filled with cobwebs and dust was Filch making the students do his job.

"What are you doing?" Filch snarled suspiciously.   
"Nothing," said Harry truthfully, Ivory nodding behind him.

"Nothing!" spat Filch, his jowls quivering unpleasantly. "A likely story! Sneaking around on your own — why aren't you in Hogsmeade buying Stink Pellets and Belch Powder and Whizzing Worms like the rest of your nasty little friends?"

They shrugged.

"Well, get back to your common room where you belong!" snapped Filch, and he stood glaring until Harry and Ivory had passed out of sight.

But they didn't go to the common room, once Filch was gone Ivory stuck he tongue out in his direction in a taunting way. Making Harry smile at her. While they walked aimlessly together they talked for most of it, but the time they didn't talk was spent in comfortable silence. It wasn't normal for Ivory to feel so relaxed in the presence of someone she had only known a few months, but for some reason, she could feel happy with the silence. It wasn't akward, it wasn't tiring, it was just silence. And she was fine with that.

They took breaks between the comfortable silences and small conversations. 

One conversation that caught her interest more than the many others happened to be the current one.

"Why do you always hang out with the blonde girl now? You never make as much time for Ron, Hermione and I," Harry asked nervously, looking away from the girl when he did.

She turned her head curiously to him, only to catch him looking down. 

"Well, I guess I just need a break from you annoying shits every once in a while," she joked. But when she saw him frown she quickly stopped her small laughter.

"Im joking Harry," she said, though it sounded more like a question as she leaned forward to see him frown.

"Whats this about?" She asked, her grin ceasing when he wouldn't look back at her.

"Nothing, it's stupid," he sighed. Shaking it off as he turned back to her with a forced grin.

Heres the thing.

While Ivory was never good with emotions, she definitely knew when they were fake. 

She looked at him sadly, before stepping closer.

"Tell me," she said, her voice stern and serious.

"Its nothing-"

"Harry James Potter tell me this instant," this time her tone was more desperate, she needed an answer.

"I just thought you didn't like us anymore ok?" He finally said, more like yelled, but he was lucky she didn't mind.

"Oh? That is stupid," she smirked.

"I could never stop liking you guys! You're my best friends!"

Ouch.

Harry bit the inside of his cheek at her words, but there was still a sense of happiness in him at her words. At least he knew she wouldn't abandon him.

Still, he couldn't help his small frown returning.

But he stopped when Ivory took two of her fingers. Putting both on a corner of his mouth and lifting the sides up into a smile, which made him stupidly laugh.

"Look! All better, you idiot!" She laughed along with him, the two sharing a carefree moment. 

In that moment she felt free, her mind not stressing about anything that were to come. Future tests, Sirius Black, Homework assignments. And Harry felt it too. Like it was just them in that moment, in that small space in time where they didn't have anything else to think about but the laughs that shook their bodies.

What neither of them had noticed was that they had stopped in front of a large door. Behind it Remus Lupin, who helplessly smiled at the sound of the two kids laughing. He hoped James and Lily could only watch over their son now, and see him being so happy.

The day of their death wasn't easy on Remus, but knowing Harry had found someone to make it easier for him made the professors heart warm.

Eventually, their laughter died down and the two were left in their close proximity.

And Harry swore she looked as beautiful as always.

Her cheeks were pink from laughter, her smile so bright that it lit up the dim corridors. Her hair was flown slightly over her shoulders from when she swayed in her steps. And her eyes seemed more full of life than ever. He was so close to her he was able to see small specks of brown near the very iris.

It took everything in him not to hold her at that moment.

But he restrained himself.

Because he knew she probably didn't feel the same. And he never wanted to force her too.

Ivory herself had felt a pull to the boy, but every time she thought about it she couldn't not think about the pull she felt towards Luna. In only a few weeks she had grown incredibly closer with the two of them. And she didn't know why she felt the way she feels with Harry around another girl. It was weird to her. 

As the moment of silence between the two of them grew longer Remus poked his head out, seeing the two watch each other for an achingly long time.

"What are you two doing here?" He asked, looking between them as they distanced themselves. (Which had made him raise an eyebrow.) "Where are Ron and Hermione"

"Hogsmeade," Harry said as he cleared his throat. A large blush on his cheeks.

"Ah," he said simply. "Why dont you come in? I've just taken delivery of a Grindylow for our next lesson."

Ivory clapped her hands at this, completely forgetting the moment she and Harry had before as she followed Professor Lupin into his office. So with an eye roll and a smile Harry followed behind them.

In the corner stood a very large tank of water. A sickly green creature with sharp little horns had its face pressed against the glass, pulling faces and flexing its long, spindly fingers.

"A water demon," said Lupin, surveying the Grindylow thoughtfully. "We shouldn't have much difficulty with him, not after the Kappas. The trick is to break his grip. You notice the abnormally long fingers? Strong, but very brittle." 

The Grindylow bared its green teeth and then buried itself in a tangle of weeds in a corner, making Ivory stick her middle finger out at it childishly. With Harry having to lower her hand before Lupin saw her crude act.

Though it only made her flip him off aswell with an impish smirk.

"Cup of tea?" Lupin said, looking around for his kettle. "I was just thinking of making one." 

Ivory nodded, and Harry merely said "alright," awkwardly.

Lupin tapped the kettle with his wand and a blast of steam issued suddenly from the spout. 

"Sit down," said Lupin, taking the lid off a dusty tin. "I've only got teabags, I'm afraid — but I dare say you've had enough of tea leaves?" Harry looked at him. Lupin's eyes were twinkling. 

Ivory snorted beside him, making Harry squint at her as a way to say 'shut up.'

"How did you know about that?" Harry asked.

"Professor McGonagall told me," said Lupin, passing Harry a chipped mug of tea. "You're not worried, are you?" 

"No," said Harry. 

"And you, my dear?" Lupin asked, turning to Ivory.

"Why would I be?" She smiled politely, wringing her hands together as she looked towards the tall man.

When the two turned back to Harry they found him with his eyebrows furrowed, his usual thinking face on. "Something bothering you Harry?" Lupin asked.

"No," Harry lied. He drank a bit of tea and watched the Grindylow brandishing a fist at him."Yes," he said suddenly, putting his tea down on Lupin's desk. "You know that day we fought the Boggart?" He said hesitantly, seeing Ivory's shoulders tense at the topic.

"What about it?" Lupin said slowly, gesturing for Harry to continue as he took another sip of tea.

"Well, I never really got to fight one, did I? I thought.. Maybe you'd have another for me to try with?" Harry tried curiously. 

"I don't believe that to be such a good idea Harry, do you Ivory?" Lupin told, turning to the young girl who had been quiet for longer than usual. A full two minutes.

"If he wants to that's his idea. Though I'd rather not," she said nervously, picking at the skin around her nails. She tried to keep herself from constantly moving, but it proved useless when Lupin stood up with a sigh. "Alright then, let's go."

Without question Harry followed the tall man, but Ivory stayed back for a second. Only following them when Harry looked at her with pleading eyes. 

Damn that boy.

They walked up a small flight of stairs, making sure not to touch any of the obscure artifacts Lupin seemed to keep around. 

"Hey Professor Lupin? Can I touch this?" Ivory would occasionally ask whenever they passed something strange looking. The item of interest then had been a spiky plant. In fact, it was a cactus. Which made Harry have to conceal a laugh. Though he stopped and let himself do so when Lupin outwardly chuckled.

"I would advise against it Ivy, it's a Sibelius Soutrinil, they make you turn purple." Harry teased, though when he say Ivory's face light up at the idea he stopped. "Seriously, don't touch it."

She frowned, hitting the boy on the arm as she looked up at the professor for confirmation.

"Its not a Sibelius Soutrinil, that's not real my dear. Its a cactus, it's from the muggle world." Lupin explained. "Though it will give you a nasty sting on the finger if you touch it," he raised a finger, showing a pale bandage wrapped around it as he faked a hiss of pain. The two kids behind him smiled at the professor, running up the rest of the steps to meet him at the top.

When they reached the finish of the stairs a small door led into another room. Inside was a packing box, what made it more mysterious than most though was the fact it had been rattling and moving against the wood floor.

Ivory stepped forward curiously, but she was stopped when Lupin put an arm in front of her to halt her. 

"Inside there is another Boggart," he started to say, "It's for Harry to have a go at." 

Harry nodded, pulling out his wand from the pocket in his robe as he gave it a good and confident wave.

"Do you remember the spell? Riddikulus," Lupin quizzed, making the younger boy nod in excitement as the professor reached over to open it.

The hood unlatched and out came the Boggart, in the shape of a Dementor.

Confusion struck Ivory and Lupin as Harry's eyes widened. His body immediately went rigid and Ivory could see him shake gently in his shoes. And so Lupin jumped in front of him and shouted, "Riddikulus!"

Harry swiftly snapped out of his trance and weakly put his wand down, a feeling of shame washing over him.

The two teens turned to each other, Harry's expression frightened and tired. While Ivory looked at him with a soft smile, taking his hand in hers comfortingly.

There was a silence between the three as Harry stared between his and Ivory's conjoined hands and the floor. He was abnormally quiet and she was scared she had done something wrong somehow. Though the thought of that was gone when he gave it a prompt and tight squeeze.

"Why didn't you let me fight it?" said Harry abruptly. 

Lupin raised his eyebrows.

"I would have thought that was obvious, Harry," he said, sounding surprised. 

The teens looked confused as they willed for Lupin to continue, though that was all he said at the moment.

"Why?" he asked again. 

"Well," said Lupin, frowning slightly, "I assumed that if the Boggart faced you, it would assume the shape of Lord Voldemort." 

She furrowed her brows, thinking it over in her head. Her initial thought when she faced the Boggart was Voldemort as well. It seemed like the reasonable choice out of all her fears. But she never expected what happened with hers, that being said she could see why Harry's was a Dementor. It was a dark ghoul that could suck your soul out of you.

"Clearly, I was wrong," said Lupin, still frowning at Harry. "But I didn't think it a good idea for Lord Voldemort to materialize in my office. I imagined that people would panic." 

"I didn't think of Voldemort," said Harry honestly. "I — I remembered those Dementors." 

"I see," said Lupin thoughtfully. "Well, well... I'm impressed." He smiled slightly at the look of surprise on Harry's face. "That suggests that what you fear most of all is — fear. Very wise, Harry." 

Harry stayed silent, only turning to his side when Ivory gave his hand a squeeze like he had done before. When he did look back at her he saw her smile at him, which made his heart do its own sort of squeeze.

Lupin smiled as he watched the two exchange small glances, inwardly sighing as he remembered his teenage years, when he would fall in love. It was clear to him the two would eventually feel how he did back then for his won best friend.

He was happy for them, more than words can describe.

The group walked back down to the main room as a knock heard on the door behind them.

"Come in," called Lupin. 

The door opened, and in came Snape. He was carrying a goblet, which was smoking faintly, and stopped at the sight of the teenagers, his black eyes narrowing. 

"Ah, Severus," said Lupin, smiling. "Thanks very much. Could you leave it here on the desk for me?" 

Snape set down the smoking goblet, his eyes wandering between Harry, Ivory and Lupin. 

"I was just showing Harry and Ivory my Grindylow," said Lupin pleasantly, pointing at the tank. 

"Fascinating," said Snape, without looking at it. "You should drink that directly, Lupin." 

"Yes, Yes, I will," said Lupin. 

"I made an entire cauldronful," Snape continued. "If you need more." 

"I should probably have some again tomorrow. Thanks very much, Severus." 

"Not at all," said Snape, but there was a look in his eye neither teen seemed to like at all. He backed out of the room, unsmiling and watchful. 

Harry looked curiously at the goblet. Lupin smiled. Ivory lowered her gaze and bit her lip.

“Professor Snape has very kindly concocted a potion for me,” he said. “I have never been much of a potion-brewer and this one is particularly complex.” He picked up the goblet and sniffed it. “Pity sugar makes it useless,” he added, taking a sip and shuddering.

“Why —?” Harry began. Lupin looked at him and answered the unfinished question.

“I’ve been feeling a bit off-color,” he said. “This potion is the only thing that helps. I am very lucky to be working alongside Professor Snape; there aren’t many wizards who are up to making it.” Professor Lupin took another sip and Harry squeezed Ivorys hand once more, though this time she could feel tension and irritation.

Ivory though was less focused on their conjoined hands than before, instead, she sniffed the air around it. When she did though an unpleasant feeling filled her stomache and she slowly backed into the chair more than she intended. Making the boy turn to her with a raised eyebrow.

“Professor Snape’s very interested in the Dark Arts,” he blurted out. 

“Really?” said Lupin, looking only mildly interested as he took another gulp of potion. 

“Some people reckon —” Harry hesitated, then plunged recklessly on, “some people reckon he’d do anything to get the Defense Against the Dark Arts job.”

Harry's words made the girl beside him hit him once again, a common action he found at this point. Though they were never too hard, merely a small slap on the arm. 

Lupin drained the goblet and pulled a face. 

“Disgusting,” he said. “Well, Harry, Ivory, I’d better get back to work. See you at the feast later.” 

“Right,” said Harry, putting down his empty teacup. 

The empty goblet was still smoking. 

The two left the professors office quietly, still hand in hand. Neither seemed to care and neither seemed to want to let go. They continued their walk like this all the way to the common room, Ivory swinging their arms together childishly with a huge grin on her face as she babbled on and on about different subjects.

"Did you know that..." Was her favorite way to start a new topic. Harry would hear it every five minutes, and every five minutes he couldn't do anything but listen ever so carefully at the words that followed.

At some point he found himself wanting to blurt out, "did you know I have a helpless crush on you?" But he stopped himself each time he thought of it.

"Harry, would you want to spend the rest of the afternoon together? The others don't get back till evening so we have 2 or 3 hours," she asked. Tucking a few strands of loose hair behind her ear as she leaned forward. 

He nodded his head eagerly, a bit more eager than he liked to be fair. "Of course, Ivy," he said. His face brightening as she laughed and tugged him down towards the main courtyard. 

They sprinted happily, the empty halls magnify their cheers and footsteps. Because while neither had a clue what fueled their sudden burst of energy, they couldn't say they weren't happy with it.

"Look!" She squeaked, letting go of Harry as she jumped onto the stone benches, walking across them before twirling. Her robes and hair spinning in the wind as if they had as much liveliness as her.

"Your stage M'lady," Harry said jokingly, in a posh accent as he bowed and stuck out his arm like a worker would.

"Ah, Sir Potter I think you mean our stage!" She giggled, pulling the boy onto the bench as the two collided. The force almost knocking them back as much as their laughs.

"How are you so strong?" He asked in wonder, holding Ivorys arms to steady her. 

"Well I grew up with 5 brothers Harry," she replied as she placed one of his hands on her waist and one on her shoulder. "Now dance with me!"

And so they danced, clumsily. Jumping from bench to bench between the square steps they did. Like a scene from a movie they seemed as energetic and joyful as the two main characters would.

They chuckled and chanted song lyrics they could think of, messing up the words from time to time. They were exhausted by the end, having now resorted to resting on the edge of the fountain.

Ivory leaned her head against Harry's shoulder, letting her eyes droop tiredly as she tried to steady her exhausted breath. "You're a horrible dancer you know?" She laughed airly, curling up to his side.

"Not as bad as you," Harry said, pushing some of his hair back as he put one of his arms around her shoulders subconsciously. In any other situation he would freak out at their close proximity, but at that time he was too exhilarated to really care. Though he did feel like doing a happy dance like their shared one before inside his head.

"Yeah," she paused to think about the many times he had almost tripped over his own feet and caused them to fall, "you are."

Harry let out a laugh before standing up and stretching his arms over his head. The sky had gone from a light blue to a dark pink and purple, surveying all the stars that littered the evening heavens. Along with the setting sun over the side of the castle, a beautiful sight one could only wish to see. And yet, Harry had the pleasure of seeing it with Ivory Malonsi, a girl that he thought was thousands times more beautiful. 

The girl in question was watching the sun with a soft smile on her face, her eyes seeming to glow with the direction it fell. Illuminating her face like a light would to a work of art in a museum. Her hair was flying around her face as the wind whipped through it every few seconds. She pushed most of it behind her head, the strands that were longer than the others falling gingerly on her shoulders. Some of them fell across her face though, kissing her upturned nose the shined red in the light. 

Harry didn't know whether to stare at the girl behind him or the setting sun infront, but when she looked towards him with the kindest eyes he's ever seen, the answer was easy for him.

She stood up delicately and dusted her robes off, pulling her sleeves down as she peered at Harry before holding her hand out. Willing him to take it, and as he did he felt a lot warmer.

The two walked in a comfortable silence to their common room, Ivory bidding the boy farewell as he stayed downstairs and she went up to her room.

When she got in she fell onto her bed, hugging her pillow tightly as she recalled the day she had spent with him. An affectionate smile spreading across her face, her cheeks turning just as red as her house colour.

Eventually the rest of the 3rd year students came filing into the common rooms, causing commotion and loud chatter to echo off the walls.

Ivory sat up in her bed when her rooms door handle twisted open, revealing a giggling Parvati and Lavender, on their arm another girl who Ivory had yet to meet. She was a chubby girl, with short black and brown curls and dark brown skin. She had beautiful hazel eyes that looked around cautiously and surveyed the room and its clutter.

"Oh hello Ivory!" Lavender smiled, waving at her as she sat down on her bed with the new girl.

"Hi Lavender, Parvati. Two things, how was Hogsmeade and who's she?" Ivory questioned as Parvati set a bag down beside her trunk.

"It was fine, and this is Yasmine, we met her at Hogsmeade," Parvati explained with a smile. 

Ivory turned towards Yasmine and shook the girls hand tiredly. "What house are you in?"

"Im in Ravenclaw, though I really wanted to be in Slytherin," Yasmine said sheepishly. Lavender laughed as she strung an arm around her new friend.

"Aww Lavender are you two dating!" Ivory teased, making Yasmine's face bright red, though Lavenders expression remained the same. "Of course not, we just met Ives!" 

"Ives?" She asked.

"Yeah! I haven't given you a nickname yet, I call Parvati 'Patty' sometimes so, you need one too!" Lavender grinned. Making Ivory smirk aswell.

"Anyways we need to get ready for the feast! Cmon Yasmine," Lavender cheered, pulling the girl into their shared bathroom.

Ivory turned to Parvati with a raised brow, to which she only shrugged and sighed. "Shes straight, its hard to tell sometimes," Parvati joked.

Ivory nodded slowly, having no idea what she meant, but ignoring it as Parvati closed the door behind the three in the bathroom.

The three of them stayed in there for a good 40 minutes, the water running for half of it and then another half Ivory heard screams and giggles.

When the three got out Lavender was pink, and Parvati and Yasmine were both giggling about who knows what. Ivory stared at them, only making Yasmine laugh more. 

They all walked out of the room loudly, leaving Ivory to ponder about whatever had happened in silence.

At the moment there was the Halloween feast, she knew that. But she wasn't so interested in her first Halloween feast. Her dance in the sun causing her to feel like her limbs were aching, though a small price to pay for the euphoria she felt when even recalling the moment.

She stayed in her room for a few minutes, her eyes closing slowly and leisurely. As she felt herself slowly lose conciousness. 

But when she herself finally relaxed, a loud scream echoed from downstairs, making her shoot up promptly and run down without another thought.

"HELLO?" she yelled into the silent common room, stopping only when she saw that their entrance portrait had small slashes on the back.

Her immediate thought was that they were so small it couldn't have mattered. But if they were this small from the back then they must've been deep cuts from the front. So she opened the portrait, completely forgetting her wand in her room.

When she did she found a large black dog, looking up at her with eyes filled of anger and rage. She took an involuntary step back, looking straight into the dogs eyes as she did her best to stand tall.

"What did you do?" She asked sirius-ly. (Oops, a mispell)

The dog snarled at her, baring its teeth threateningly, but she didn't back down. She stood her ground and stood it proud. She'd be damned if she let herself fall prey to a rabid dog instead of her own locked up father.

"Leave, leave here now!" She yelled harshly, but the dog pounced on her and pushed her to the ground. Growling as it got off her. What she didn't understand was that it hadn't hurt her, it had the opportunity to sink its claws into her but it had yet to. It also hadn't bit her, which she found strange.

She felt herself reach out towards it, running the tips of her fingers out against its black fur. When she did she felt a strange calm, like the dog was someone she knew long ago.

The black dog stared at her intently, tilting its head slowly to the left in confusion as it saw her gaze soften.

"Who are you...?" She whispered, stopping when she heard a loud thumping down from the staircases.

The dog turned back, looking fearful as it ran away, its furry legs carrying it as fast as it could.

Ivory realized if they found her down in the common room she was bound to be asked questions, so she ran back up to her room and threw herself under the covers.

It was common knowledge Dumbledore somehow had a way to find out about anything. If he could do that, Ivory felt the need to protect the large black dog. She needed to know why she felt the way she did when she had pet it. Why she felt like that dog could give her some answers. It was such a strange feeling, especially for an animal, but she knew it had to mean something... Right?

She tucked herself tightly in her blankets as she heard three pairs of footsteps run up the stairs.

"Ivory?! Ivory!" Lavender screamed, her voice breaking as she ran to grab the arms of the girl. Shaking her hopelessly which made her pretend to wake up.

"What is it Lavender?" She groaned, rubbing her eyes as she faked a yawn.

"Oh thank God!" Lavender sighed, hugging her tightly as Parvati came around on her other side. Hermione also stood in the room, watching awkwardly as the three friends held eachother.

Ivory felt herself relax in their grasp, closing her eyes and feeling content as always in the two girls presence. 

"Ivory, we have to go now," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

She nodded her head tiredly as the four of them now walked down to the common room where some of the teacher had gathered.

"Malonsi, do you know anything about what happened?" McGonagall asked as she walked up to the group, her hands clasped tightly together. Making her look stern and serious as ever.

"No, miss, I was asleep." She said simply, looking as innocent as she could muster as she had quite literally come face to face with the perpetrator. 

McGonagall looked her over a few times before exhaling, nodding and letting the four walk back to the group of students, where their final dorm mate had been waiting anxiously. When she saw Ivory she ran to give her a hug.

"Im so glad you're ok!" She cried, her and Lavender seemed to have the same reaction regarding her health.

"Of course I am," she said, though more like questioned.

"Alright students!" McGonagall called from behind them, appearing from nowhere as she stood beside Dumbledore. "Head to the Great hall!"


	13. 0.1.2

Ivory

Professor Dumbledore sent all the Gryffindors back to the Great Hall, where they were joined ten minutes later by the students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, who all looked extremely confused.

"The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle," Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. "I'm afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here. I want the prefects to stand guard over the entrances to the hall and I am leaving the Head Boy and Girl in charge. Any disturbance should be reported to me immediately," he added to Percy, who was looking immensely proud and important. "Send word with one of the ghosts."

Professor Dumbledore paused, about to leave the hall, and said, "Oh, yes, you'll be needing..." 

One casual wave of his wand and the long tables flew to the edges of the hall and stood themselves against the walls; another wave, and the floor was covered with hundreds of squashy purple sleeping bags.

"Sleep well," said Professor Dumbledore, closing the door behind him.

The hall immediately began to buzz excitedly; the Gryffindors were telling the rest of the school what had just happened. 

"Everyone into their sleeping bags!" shouted Percy. "Come on, now, no more talking! Lights out in ten minutes!"

"C'mon," Ron said to Harry, Ivory and Hermione; two of them grabbing sleeping bags with Ron while Ivory stayed reluctant.

"Ivory, you coming?" Hermione asked as she grabbed her sleeping bag. She had noticed Ivory's strange behavior before, but she never questioned it too much till now.

"Yeah I just... I need to check something first, I'll catch up later," she smiled. Waving them off as she looked across the great hall, in the direction of the Ravenclaws.

When she knew her friends were gone and were left to leave her alone she tip toed over to the students with blue and silver robes. Finding a certain one in the midst of them, in her hands a large candy and her wand. 

Ivory stumbled over to the platinum blonde, mumbling quick sorry's and excuse me's as she finally arrived.

"Oh, Ivory, how are you?" Luna asked brightly, innocently disregarding the happenings in the school.

"Im fine, haven't broken a bone yet, though i may have hurt my toe running down here."

"Oh, I have good experience healing toes! Want me to have a go?" She asked curiously, her eyebrows furrowing as she raised her wand. But Ivory quickly lowered it with her hand, shaking her head.

"I said i'm fine, I really don't get why everyone seems so concerned for me," She sighed. Raking a pale hand through her dark hair shakily.

"Well for one thing you seem on edge," Luna said, stating the obvious as she pointed towards her shoulders. "If you weren't you would be slouching like usual."

"Ouch, you know me too well," Ivory joked, smirking as Luna nodded her head cheekily.

"Well, I must get going as they're bound to turn off the lights in 6-8 seconds," She said, skipping chirpily off towards her fellow Ravenclaws.

Ivory bit her lip as she nodded her head lonely, going back to her group of friends to hear Hermione finish up something about Sirius Black flying into the castle.

"Well what if he was an Animagus? Would sure be tricky but I imagine 12 years by yourself would give you enough free time," Ivory joked as she sat cross legged beside Harry and Ron.

"Becoming an Animagus is impossible without the right equipment," Hermione said matter-of-factly, like always.

"I don't suspect they have some sort of arts an' crafts in Azkaban," Harry whispered, making his two best friends laugh quietly.

"Well I think they would be more focused on Macaroni art," Ivory stated with a smirk, making Harry laugh and Ron give them a confused look.

"How d'you know about macaroni and not cacti?" Harry pressed, making Ivory smile. "My mom's got a squib for a sibling so they come 'round the house with muggle things every few years."

Harry nodded his head, taking what she said into consideration as Percy Weasley roared for the students to get into bed, saying the lights would be out soon.

Most of the students stayed up, though the four in the corner had kept awake long enough to hear a passing conversation between Snape and Dumbledore about Sirius getting inside help.

"What was all that about?" Ron mouthed. 

Ivory simply shrugged, sighing quietly as she felt her eyelids come closer and closer, till the only thing she could see was an abyss.

The school talked of nothing but Sirius Black for the next few days. The theories about how he had entered the castle became wilder and wilder; Hannah Abbott, from Hufflepuff, spent much of their next Herbology class telling anyone who'd listen that Black could turn into a flowering shrub. 

A girl named Abida Basima, a muslim girl from Slytherin would spend her time in the library telling Ivory how she believed the man to be some sort of transfiguration expert. Saying he could've turned into a student with a Polyjuice potion.

A boy named Jacobs Noel from Ravenclaw said he had heard rumors of Sirius Black somehow obtaining an invisibility cloak, which made him sneak past everyone.

The Fat Lady's ripped canvas had been taken off the wall and replaced with the portrait of SirCadogan and his fat gray pony. Nobody was very happy about this. Sir Cadogan spent half his time challenging people to duels, and the rest thinking up ridiculously complicated passwords, which he changed at least twice a day. 

"He's a complete lunatic," said Seamus Finnigan angrily to Percy. "Can't we get anyone else?" 

"None of the other pictures wanted the job," said Percy. "Frightened of what happened to the Fat Lady. Sir Cadogan was the only one brave enough to volunteer." 

One day Ivory say McGonagall call Harry into her office while the two had been chatting on a cold stone bench. The wind whistled behind them in a different tone when the lanky and pale lady came up behind them. She had interrupted Ivorys speech.

"So, we sneak into Snapes potions cabinet and take one of everything. Then, we mix it together and then pour it on -"

"Not a wise choice Miss. Malonsi," McGonagall stated as she snaked her way into the conversation. Ivory jumped into the air with a squeak as she realized how close the old woman was.

"When were you there Minnie?" Ivory grinned, though something flickered in McGonagall's eyes. Something unrecognizable that made her lips curl ever so slightly.

"A while, I would advise against your next prank, I'm sure Dumbledore has told you how all this could end."

Harry raised a brow questioningly as he turned to the newly bashful girl. She had resorted to biting her bottom lip as she looked towards the boy.

"A suspension.." She whispered quietly, McGonagall softened, making her mouth turn downwards into a saddened frown. "Mr. Potter, would you follow me?" 

Harry turned back to Ivory, looking for something to say he was allowed, though she merely shrugged. "Dont have to ask my permission Potter, I don't control you," she said simply. Harry smiled at her as he squeezed her hand that he had been holding, letting go and following McGonagall. The professors eyes trailing to the students as he kept his watch on the fading girl, her gaze distant as she watched the tree leaves rustle against one another.

It took a while for Harry to return, but when he did he told Ivory all about his conversation with the teacher. Made it seem to be no point for them to walk away, as she heard it detailed word for word from the boy afterwards.

Each sentence she listened with more intent than the last, her friends voice soothing her softly as its volume fought against the chatter around them. Different students fell into a walking pace as they passed the two, none seeming to acknowledge the duo except for a small boy.

He had blonde hair and under his robe stood something Ivory couldn't comprehend draped around his neck. It looked like a camera, but a lot more different to what she was used to.

"Harry! Hey Harry!" The boy called as he ran forward. Ivory felt the boy beside her shrink into himself, his feet scattering backwards on the ground before realizing he had in fact been seated. She furrowed her brows as she tried to work out if she ever remembered Harry talking about him. Suddenly it had clicked that the boy infront of them was Colin Creevey, a muggle born who had seen Harry as a child star.

"Harry!— Who are you?" Colin asked, just now seeing Ivorys presence. 

She stiffled a laugh as Harry cringed, probably expecting her to lash out at the small boy. Though she wouldn't be that rude to a second year.

"Ivory Malonsi," she paused. She had the opportunity to play with Harry so she chose it without hesitation. "Im Harry's girlfriend."

Harry stiffened beside her immediately. "What? No you're no—" "Oh shush, love, of course I am!" She cut off, raising their entwined hands into Colins view.

Colin stared wide eyed at their hands as he quickly fumbled to ready his camera. He eagerly snapped a shot of their hands as his smile brightened. "Wow! Who have you told!" 

"Everyone," Harry joked with a roll of his eyes, though Colin didn't seem to pick up on his sarcasm. "Aw man, I thought I was the first to know..." He said sadly. 

Ivory slapped Harry's arm as he winced, glaring at her. "What was that all about?" He asked as Colin skipped away, a spring in his step.

"Well, I thought I would have some fun. Obviously you don't enjoy it so I'll leave!" Ivory frowned, though her voice teasing as she went to stand up. Just as quickly as her feet hit the gravel though she was dragged back down onto the stone by an arm wrapped tightly around her waist. It pulled her back swiftly and she settled back beside Harry.

"Who said you could leave, love?" Harry asked with a smirk.

Ivory shivered involuntary from the way his warm breath had blown by her ear, contrasting to the cold air of November. Her stomache twisted slightly, but she blamed it on the wind washing against her skin every few seconds.

Harry laughed at her speechless state, bringing his arm from her waist to around her shoulder as she sighed. She leaned her head against his own and a feeling of happiness soon filled her body. Warming her like Harry had been doing with his body warmth.

"So, are you guys practicing for the Quidditch match?" She asked after a while, letting herself revel in the comfortable silence.

"Yeah, Oliver has been real strict about the schedule. Barely leaves me anytime to spend with my favorite person," he smiled, looking down at her.

She looked up and gave him a soft grin, though it faded when she saw the playful glint in his eyes when he turned away.

"Its been real hard without time with Ron, we need to hang out all the time otherwise I feel so lost!" Harry said dramatically, putting the back of his hand against his forehead as he laid his head back.

She scoffed in turn but they were substituted with laughs. Her hair falling off her shoulder as she leant forward.

Harry watched her with the kindest smile, taking his time to remember every one of her features in that very moment.

"I think," she said between laughs, "I think I would enjoy some time without those two. They're always flirting with eachother."

"Ah yes, the true love language of throwing books at one anothers head and refusing to talk," Harry said with a faked happy sigh. Ivory rolled her eyes and grinned at him.

"Yes, truly so romantic," Ivory said, dragging the last word out to put emphasis on it. "Maybe I should start throwing books at Luna."

Harry laughed, but when her words registered in his mind he abruptly stopped.

"Luna?" His voice cracked, he had no idea why, he knew Ivory didn't like him. He also knew she was joking. But the idea of her flirting with someone else made him both hurt and angry.

Ivory paused, biting her lip as she thought over what she had just said with regret. She guessed now was the time where she cracked another joke to wash away the first. But when she tried nothing seemed to come to mind.

"Quidditch," Harry said suddenly, changing the conversation. "I have Quidditch practice tomorrow." His cheeks were tinted red like the falling leaves that crumpled and crunched on the ground below them. The two had been walking now into the school, their shoes hitting the floor of Hogwarts as they marched to their common room.

Ivory nodded, letting her bottom lip go between her teeth. "I can come watch right?" She asked, picking up on what the boy had been hinting at before.

"Wouldn’t want it any other way."

That next practice was the last one before the Quidditch match against Slytherin. Ivory had stayed in the stands near Madame Hooch, the flying teacher and one who helped organize all the Quidditch events.

"Wooo go Harry!" Ivory would cheer everytime he catched the practice Snitch. 

"Hey, cheer for your favorite twins!" Kole called as he flew near the girl who had painted red and gold across her face childishly.

"Oh of course Kole," she smiled. She picked up the small flags she had made yesterday (each holding the respectful house crescent.) and waved them through the air.

"Go Fred and George!! Beat the Slytherins tomorrow!" She yelled, making her own brothers glare at her. John even went to pretend to throw the Quaffle at her head.

"Ivory, do you want to go and play with them?" Madame Hooch asked as the players took a mid-break to rest and drink some water. 

"Oh absolutely Madame," she said as she quickly hopped from the bleachers and ran fast down to the field.

She opened up the brooms cupboard which held most of the equipment. In there she found a clean sweeper, and while the broom version wasn't the greatest she knew beggers couldn't be choosers. As quickly as she ran down to the field she jumped happily on the broom and flew into the air. Her robes and hair flipping around wildly behind her as the wind blew past her in her flying form. She soared through the air freely, painting the windy and rain filled sky with wooshes that trailed by her. 

Down on the benches Harry watched with an open heart, his mind racing almost as much as she had been.

"Come on you lazy gits! Fly with me before I steal all your spots and become a one woman show," she screamed confidently. Her confidence in her flying so high that she had swung her leg onto the broom, balancing feverishly on the thin wood. Harry watched her in awe and wonderment, though his palms started to sweat when he saw her being pushed by the wind. She swayed in the air but remained balanced.

Eventually the team had finished their well needed rest and Oliver had gone back to yelling instructions at each of them. The way Ivory would join was by making each job harder, she would fly by each station and indulge in making their practice more 'fun'.

For Harry being Seeker she would fly around his broomstick, creating circles and swirls in the sky. The circles were made to confuse him and make him dizzy. Eventually it started having the effect and Harry's focus on the Snitch would switch to Ivory's twirling form.

Next for Angelina, Kole and John as Chasers she would be an opposing Chaser, doing her best to steal the Quaffle from the three with every chance she got. Every once in a while she would be able to grab it and score a goal on their side. Making her brothers yell at her as she smiled proudly. Though secretly they were jsut as proud as she was.

For Fred and George as Beaters she would switch to being an enemy on the field. Playing as a Slytherin Beater as she aimed towards the Chasers. The two would have to protect them even more from her though as she would go into a downwards tip to try and tackle one to the ground. It was tricky to pull up quick enough to avoid hitting the ground with a force strong enough to kill. But with the years of practice under her belt as a girl filled with a house full of Quidditch obsessed boys (especially one who had become professional for a while.) she had gotten the hang of it. 

With Oliver as Keeper Ivory was to do the same with what she had done with the Chasers in that, she would be from the opposing team. She would do her best to score goals on Oliver, changing her tactic every 4 goals. She would switch from focusing on the middle, to the left, to the right, then mix that up and repeat the process. She had gotten enough goals to where Oliver could see the pattern, but because of its randomness he wasn't able to properly make everything out. It would always end with Ivory scoring and taunting the 7th year.

It wasn't hard to see the 3rd year was skilled in her flying and Quidditch. You'd think she spent her whole life playing the game, but that was only partially true.

While Ivory had a lot of experience with it, and spent all her time playing it during her free hours, she never saw herself as good as her brothers. No matter how many weeks she put into it, when she thought of her older brother Chris, who she looked up to more than anyone, she was put into her own sort of perspective. Many of her friends frequently complimented her on her abilities, but everytime they did she would humble herself and say it was all her brother. She knew she had a talent in Quidditch, it was really only one of the few things going for her as she never got that good of grades. Yet she doubted herself constantly, which only seemed to push her more to hone her skills in the sport.

At the end of the practice everyone soared to the ground as Oliver called them.

“We’re not playing Slytherin!” he told them, looking very angry. “Flint’s just been to see me. We’re playing Hufflepuff instead.”

“Why?” chorused the rest of the team.

“Flint’s excuse is that their Seeker’s arm’s still injured,” said Wood, grinding his teeth furiously. “But it’s obvious why they’re doing it. Don’t want to play in this weather. Think it’ll damage their chances…”

She couldn't blame them, it had been storming harder and harder with each passing minute. While Oliver spoke a crack of thunder rumbled in the distance. She froze up at the sudden noise, it only seemed to have this affect now because she had been preoccupied earlier. Harry took note of her reaction and grabbed her hand in his. Something the two had started to do quite frequently now as a way to comfort one another.

"Theres nothing wrong with Malfoys arm!" Harry grumbled, tightening his grip on Ivory, "he's faking it!"

“I know that, but we can’t prove it,” said Wood bitterly, “And we’ve been practicing all those moves assuming we’re playing Slytherin, and instead it’s Hufflepuff, and their style’s quite different. They’ve got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory —”

Angelina giggled while Kole brightened.

"What?" Oliver frowned at their light hearted behavior, seeing it as a disregard for the current 'tragedy.'

“He’s that tall, good-looking one, isn’t he?” said Angelina.

“Strong and silent,” said Kole, and they started to smile again.

“He’s only silent because he’s too thick to string two words together,” said Fred impatiently. “I don’t know why you’re worried, Oliver, Hufflepuff is a pushover. Last time we played them, Harry caught the Snitch in about five minutes, remember?”

“We were playing in completely different conditions!” Wood shouted, his eyes bulging slightly. “Diggory’s put a very strong side together! He’s an excellent Seeker! I was afraid you’d take it like this! We mustn’t relax! We must keep our focus! Slytherin is trying to wrong-foot us! We must win!”

“Oliver, calm down!” said Fred, looking slightly alarmed. “We’re taking Hufflepuff very seriously. Seriously.” Kole nodded along, taking the gingers side quickly.

The next day Ivory had woken up late and had barely had the energy to run to her class, which had just so happened to be Defense against the Dark Arts. For some reason though, Ivory had a bad feeling about this class.

As she opened the large wooden door with a creak she stepped into the airy classroom. The blinds closed over the windows engulfing the area in darkness. On a white screen had been the anatomy of a werewolf, which made Ivory freeze up. What made her shiver even more than the dark and the lessons was the one leading it. Snake— Snape... Snape. Yep. Snape.

"Ah Malonsi, sit down beside Potter now, it seems you two have zero respect for—"

"Wheres Lupin?" She asked, interrupting him mid-speech.

"Lupin is out sick, what do you care Malonsi? Now sit down before I deduct even more points from Gryffindor—"

"Well where is he?"

"I don't see how that is relevant to my order. Now if you don't sit down I don't think your 'skills' for Quidditch will be able to make up for your failing grades." Snape hissed coldly. Sneering at the small girl as she stood her ground at the entrance.

"I don't care, where's Lupin?" She said fiercely. Her arms crossing over her chest as she chewed the inside of her cheek. She had no problem with authority, but all eyes were currently on her.

"It doesn't matter." Snape said finally. "Now sit down or leave and lose a grade from both my class and Lupins."

"You don't have that type of authority here," she smirked. "I'll go though, have fun Snivels" she teased, finding a nickname for the man.

Snape paused, going deathly silent as his hand raised uncharacteristically shakily to point towards the door. His next words seemed to echo so loudly in the classroom students from far away paused in their tracks, "OUT!"

And that was probably the first time Ivory flinched by a teachers yells. She blinked afterwards but walked backwards fearfully, her heartbeat speeding up as she raced down the halls.

It seemed that each DADA class brought her back to this position she was in now.

After running from the classroom she would go to an abandoned corridor where really only rats seemed to frequent. There she would sit along the wall and run her hands against her legs, grounding herself and her breathing. She never understood why this happened. But whenever someone yelled at her like that she feared and flinched away, maybe it was her father. It wouldn't be the first thing he ruined in her life, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last. Back to the matter at hand though, It seemed the cycle had repeated as Ivory was curled into herself, her face lit only by a candle on the wall.

"Oh ninã what happened?" A voice asked from above. She looked towards its sound and found a tanned girl with short black curls that framed her face watching Ivory's meltdown.

"Nothing, goodbye now," she said coldly. She didn't mean to be harsh, but in that moment she would rather be alone than be bothered by a stranger.

"Dont speak to me like that! God you white people and your manners. Non existent. My mom would have slapped me if I talked back like that, great big hit by the sandle!" She mimicked a hit on the back of her hand with a shoe. "Though it would've been right here instead of the hand, mama didn't raise a wimp," she finished by pointing to her upper thigh.

Ivory remained silent as she watched the girl ramble about a sandle which she really only understood half of what she was saying. When the girl got really heated she would rant in a different language. Ivory also noticed her lack of an accent. Being substituted from a common British or Scottish one to simple American.

"Para que hablas espanõl?" She questioned, though laughed when she saw Ivory turn a shade paler.

"I don't speak French," she muttered, picking at her nails as the girl laughed more and more.

"Ay, chica, it's Spanish."

"Oh."

There was a short silence before the tanned girl sat beside her, her curls bouncing as she landed on the ground.

"Im Dayana, it means I'm heavenly," she teased as she batted her eyelashes.

"Im... Ivory, my name is literally just my skin tone. My parents were real original compared to yours, huh?" She joked, making Dayana giggle.

"What house are you in?" Ivory asked as she looked the girl up and down, trying to find a match of house colours. It was surprising to not see each house broadcasting their pride.

"Hufflepuff, my mom says its cause I'm loyal but I think its more to do with my kindness. See a normal person would leave you alone since you look like a mess right now." She said bluntly, making Ivory's eyes widened as she went to fix her appearance. 

"Well, Dayana, it's been real fun but I've got to go because now I feel the need to check a mirror."

"Alright, hope to see you at the Quidditch match chica!" Dayana called as Ivory walked away.

The next day Ivory woke up incredibly late again, she rushed down as fast as she could to the Quidditch pitch only to see the stands full and the game halfway through.

She climbed the massive amount of stairs and sat beside Ron and Hermione as she watched the game, yelling cheers and screams every so often as encouragement. Fun for the players, not fun for her friends stuck beside her when one of her brothers scored a goal.

The next thing she knew Harry was in the clouds for an unreasonable amount of time, before she was able to see a swarm of Dementors had come onto the pitch and surrounded him. She felt her heart stop completely when he fell from the sky, his impact only softening when Dumbledore cast a spell on his fleeting body.

The next few minutes were a blur, there was shouting, screaming, and someone even crying.

Ivory had sprinted down to the pitch faster than anyone else and she had fallen to her knees beside Harry's body. Her hand on his chest as she checked for a heartbeat and one on his neck for a pulse. Luckily, both were still there.

"Sir—" She was stopped when Harry was hurried onto a stretcher and led to the infirmary. She followed behind without another thought, watching as he was placed on a bed. But when his curtain was closed she paced irritated back and forth. Soon after her arrival Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Quidditch team had arrived, with the exception of Oliver Wood.

Ivory watched in the back of the room while everyone crowded around Harry, the sight of the boy so pale and weak making her sick to the stomache. She could barely handle the fact she could've helped him in some way, so when you paired that with the visuals she was remembering and him in the bed, she couldnt bring herself to stay near him so long.

Her emotions made her uneasy, she hated negative feelings. They always made her feel sickly and inhuman, even when they were human.

She could hear them talk about Harry's fall, how lucky he was for not dying. Sure. It was true. He was lucky his injuries were just injuries, but for them to call him lucky seemed rude.

Her eyes led from the point on the wall to her shoes, where she stared blankly, willing herself not to cry.

"Vee?" She heard someone ask. Turning her head from downpointed to the voice she realized her friends and the team had been watching her. John had been the one to call her, his voice softer than usual.

"You okay?" Kole questioned as he stepped a little closer to her. "You're shaking."

She was? She hadn't even noticed at that point. She had been so occupied with Harry's well-being she hadn't even realized she hadn't been so well herself. She had been shaking with her skin ghostly pale with a sickly green tint. Her cheeks and nose were bright cherry red and her eyes were the same. Bloodshot and widened in an everlasting surprise.

"Im fine," she replied, though by the way her voice broke and her looks it was clear to see she wasn't. Infact, she was far from it.

"You know you can tell us if you're not—"

"I said im fine!" She snapped harshly, her voice wavering as she clenched her fists. "Im not a child, I don't need your pity! Now can we just focus on Harry."

And so they did, one by one the team turned their attention back to Harry. The only exception had been her brothers, Kole had his eyes switch from Harry to Ivory. In the end he reluctantly went back to whispering with his teammates. John on the other hand very carefully walked over to her, only when he got close did he finally wrap his arms around her. With great hesitation she did the same, her heart clenching as she nuzzle her face into the tall man's chest. "Im sorry," she mumbled into the wet cloth. John shushed her quietly, burying his face in her hair as he rubbed her back soothingly.

Though Ivory couldnt bring herself to cry, she promised herself she wouldn't. She knew it was wrong, but at times she felt like it was weak. She hated herself for thinking it, but it was the only thing that ran through her mind whenever something overwhelmed her.

'Dont cry. You aren't weak. You're ok.'

When she finally heard Harry move in his bed she leaped out of her brothers arms, but hesitated to move forward. A guilty feeling eating at her still, even though she knew it wasn't her fault.

She watched as the team talked about Quidditch, seeming more worried about that then Harry's condition. Though it was a bit reasonable, they had all been so caught up earlier. Ivory just wanted to tell them all to shut up about Quidditch at the moment though, something she never thought she'd do.

After a few minutes Madame Pomfrey came to tell them to leave, making John leave aswell. Which meant only Ron, Hermione and Ivory were still there.

Ivory finally built up the courage to walk to his side, his face immediately brightening when he saw her. He sat up more as he leant forward to watch her walk slowly to his bedside. She took his hand in her own and gave it a squeeze as she smiled tight-lipped.

"You feel better?" She asked cautiously, sitting on a stool that had been placed beside him.

"Now that you're here, a lot," he laughed. Though there was a good amount of truth behind his words.

Harry turned back to the other two, who had been quiet the entire time Ivory and Harry had been talking to one another.

"Did someone get my Nimbus?"

Ron and Hermione looked quickly at eachother while Ivory bit her lip hardly.

“Er —” 

“What?” said Harry, looking from one to the other. 

“Well… when you fell off, it got blown away,” said Hermione hesitantly. 

“And?” 

“And it hit — it hit — oh, Harry — it hit the Whomping Willow.” 

“And?” he said, obviously dreading the answer.

“Well, you know the Whomping Willow,” said Ron. “It — it doesn’t like being hit.”

“Professor Flitwick brought it back just before you came around,” said Hermione in a very small voice.

Slowly, she reached down for a bag at her feet, turned it upside down, and tipped a dozen bits of splintered wood and twig onto the bed, the only remains of Harry’s faithful, finally beaten broomstick.

His hand squeezed Ivorys suffocatingly tight.


	14. 0.1.3

Ivory

Madame Pomfrey had insisted on Harry staying in the hospital wing for at least another week, and while the boy himself saw it as unnecessary Ivory was grateful. She knew fully well that once Harry was out of bed he would be back to his reckless self, (granted, it was mostly because bad things kept coming his way.) so he should at least rest that tiny bit more.

It was clear as day to see Harry was disappointed in the condition of his broom, she would've been too. A Nimbus is a great model and to have it get splintered and beaten was heartbreaking. She couldn't imagine what Harry had been going through at that moment.

During his time in the hospital wing Harry had gotten a lot of visitors. There was Ginny, Ron's younger sister, who had given him a card and a kind smile. Then the Quidditch team (now accompanied by Oliver.) who had arrived on Sunday to talk to Harry again. Then of course there was the rest of the 'Golden Quartet' which consisted of Ivory, Ron and Hermione. All of whom only left his side when night would fall over the castle. One night though, Ivory had finally convinced Madame Pomfrey to let her stay overnight. It also just so happened that was Harry's last day there, so the sleepover would be more special to the two. While Ron and Hermione had greatly wanted to stay as well, they thought it wise to give the two friends some alone time.

"Ya' know, sleeping in here by yourself is kinda creepy," Ivory said in a hushed voice as she lay beside Harry. The two compact on the small bed, with Ivory's arm around his waist and his own around her shoulders. 

"Its eerily quiet at night, makes for some really nice nightmares when I decide to sleep," he replied sarcastically. Shifting in his place to get more comfortable.

"I think, the only thing I like here is you and that window over there," she said as she pointed towards the circular window. It had a great view of the sky outside, stars shining in and making tiny spotlights on the ground in front of them.

"Well I hope I'm ranked above the window."

"You're not."

Harry scoffed as he rolled his eyes, but he smiled anyway. That was the kind of affect she seemed to have on him, and damn her for that.

"You know Malfoy has really been celebrating our defeat. The guy focuses on you way too much.. I think he might like you," Ivory joked, though she wasn't quite sure if it was true or not.

"He has the same love language as Ron and Hermione then," he laughed, making Ivory giggle as well.

"Oh definitely so endearing when a boy bully's you throughout your school years, would make for a good romance novel, eh?" She smiled while prodding him in the side with her elbow. But she stopped when Harry winced. "Sorry."

"Im really glad I can leave here soon," he said after a moments silence. "Of course I won't be happy to go back to classes, but I'll be able to hang out with you guys more."

"I wish I could skip classes," Ivory sighed. Yet Harry laughed which seemed to echo in the empty room.

"You already do though, you barely come to potions class and anytime you think the lesson is boring you ask if you can leave," Harry explained.

"Yeah well, Snape's a git and I don't think I'm gonna learn anything if I don't find it interesting enough to pay attention," she said. She was slightly offended, but she knew his words reigned true as she was barely passing her classes. Only being able to slip by with a good enough grade to move on to the next year.

"Still, you should focus less on Quidditch and more on your studies. Your brother John should too, I heard Wood saying he might kick him off the team if he doesn't pick it up with his grades."

"John is in the year where he has to start worrying about exams, as long as I don't have to do that I should be fine."

"You're not worried about your future?" Harry questioned, suddenly a bit more intrigued.

"Why would I be? When I graduate I'll try to become a professional Quidditch player, either that or an Auror." 

"You need good grades to be an Auror, Ivy."

She shrugged, biting her lip as she looked out the window. Than she got up and walked off the bed, stepping into the light that it illuminated.

"Maybe, the stars can guide me.." She said wistfully, her eyes clouded as she stepped closer and closer. She reached out with a hand towards the light of the stars. Almost like she was trying to grab one and make it tell her her fate.

Harry watched silently, studying her expression as he furrowed his brows. He stepped out of bed slowly and walked towards her, his bare feet padding against the cold floor. When he was close enough Harry reached to grab her arm, but she quickly spun around to come face to face with him. A massive grin playing on her lips.

"Good impression of Trelawney, right? Maybe I could take her spot—"

She stopped when she saw the close proximity between them, their noses brushing against one another as she watched his eyes examine her. 

Harry felt a strong pull towards her that it took most of his strength to keep him still, especially when she looked so beautiful in the moonlight. But when she backed away he regretted his actions deeply, wishing he had the courage to tell her how he feels.

"Anyways," she whispered, her face bright red as she tip toed backwards. "Its only our third year, I'll start worrying about my future in my fifth or sixth."

He nodded his head wordlessly and softly walked back to his hospital bed. Ivory went back to lying beside him, though there was the smallest distance between them. She no longer wrapped her arm around him and he didn't do the same.

But in their sleep, they somehow found each other and awoke to their limbs tangled together.

The Monday morning Harry was to return back to classes he awoke with his best friend clinging to his sleeping form, her head buried against his chest with his arm wrapped protectively around her. He prayed she wouldn't awake to his fast beating heart as he slowly tried to rise from the hospital bed, his face redder than the Quidditch uniform he practiced in.

Though in her sleeping form he couldn't help but stare at her for a while, brushing loose hair that fell in her face out of the way as she squirmed from the way it tickled her. Though the real reason she had moved was because she had awoken to Harry's heartbeat rapidly increasing. The sound having been far too loud to be healthy, though she couldn't blame him. 

She was incredibly beautiful. (To her own standards.)

Harry felt careful to not move around anymore, resorting to just watching her rest in the morning light. A goofy grin on his face as he did.

Than, without warning or notice she peeked an eye open with a smirk. "You watching me sleep now, Potter?" She asked smugly, making the boy blush madly in his pajamas.

"You wish, Malonsi, now get up," he replied as he shrugged the blanket off.

She yawned and stretched, flipping her hair off her shoulders as she did. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Harry stared intently at her, making her a little curious.

"Ok now you're watching me, what do you want?" she requested.

"Can you leave so I can change," he whispered, trying to push her off the bed. Though she smiled amusingly and fell back into his arms that had been forcing her off. "I'd rather stay here, love," she said tauntingly.

Harry gave her a sarcastic beam before shoving her roughly off the bed, making her land on the ground with an 'oof.'

"Goodbye and good morning," he announced wittily as he slammed the curtains shut, making her pout her lips.

Nevertheless, she pushed herself off the ground and dusted her knees. Walking out of the infirmary and to the nearest bathroom to change. 

Their first class of the day happened to be potions, which the only reason she hadn't skipped was because Snape had threatened to remove a grade from her. Everyone knew he was definitely being serious, so none of them seemed too surprised when she finally showed up after days of not attending. Even Snape seemed unimpressed himself.

What happened in the class though made her want to shout with laughter.

Malfoy had been doing Dementor imitations all class long, jeering and jabbing at Harry to watch him. Though Harry didn't seem too focused on the blonde as he simply kept more to himself like always. At one point Malfoy's teases had gotten so bad that Ron threw a crocodile heart at him, which made Snape deduct 50 points from Gryffindor. While the loss of points was unfortunate, Ivory laughed aloud when the heart hit Malfoy square in the face.

"If Snape's teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts again, I'm skiving off," said Ron as they headed toward Lupin's classroom after lunch. "Check who's in there, Hermione." Hermione peered around the classroom door. 

"It's okay!"

Professor Lupin was back at work. It certainly looked as though he had been ill. His old robes were hanging more loosely on him and there were dark shadows beneath his eyes; nevertheless, he smiled at the class as they took their seats, and they burst at once into an explosion of complaints about Snape's behaviour while Lupin had been ill. 

"It's not fair, he was only filling in, why should he give us homework?"

"We don't know anything about werewolves —"

"— two rolls of parchment!"

"Did you tell Professor Snape we haven't covered them yet?" Lupin asked, frowning slightly. The babble broke out again. 

"Yes, but he said we were really behind —"

"— he wouldn't listen —"

"— two rolls of parchment!" 

Ivory looked between each student as they complained, her expression confused as ever as she wrung her hands together nervously. Lupin must've known she had skipped on Snape's filling in. She had no idea why but she felt she had done more wrong to Lupin than she had to the greasy teacher.

Professor Lupin smiled at the look of indignation on every face. "Don't worry. I'll speak to Professor Snape. You don't have to do the essay."

"Oh no," said Hermione, looking very disappointed. "I've already finished it!"

Ron and Harry looked at her utterly bewildered. Though Ivory seemed to expect as much. The woman could write.

They had a very enjoyable lesson. Professor Lupin had brought along a glass box containing a Hinkypunk, a little one-legged creature who looked as though he were made of wisps of smoke, rather frail and harmless looking.

Lures travelers into bogs," said Professor Lupin as they took notes. "You notice the lantern dangling from his hand? Hops ahead — people follow the light — then —"

The Hinkypunk made a horrible squelching noise against the glass.

When the bell rang, everyone gathered up their things and headed for the door, except Lupin had called back Harry. 

Ivory watched as he stayed back, making sure to wait just outside the door for him so they could walk to their next class.

After 10 minutes Ivory sighed and got ready to leave, but right when she was about to walk across the hallway the doors opened and revealed the two men.

"Oh, hello Ivory, dear." Lupin said, looking from her position to Harry's stand.

Harry, who had raised an eyebrow at her, walked towards her side. "Why are you here?" He whispered to her.

"Waiting for you, dumb git," she replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Though she turned her attention to Lupin once Harry nodded his head.

"Sir, may I speak to you? Privately..." She asked with some uncertainty, something neither of them really saw on her too much.

"Of course Dear, but don't you have a Transfiguration class?" He furrowed his brow.

"Can't you write me a note to give her?" 

"Thats true, alright Harry, head to your next class while I keep Miss. Malonsi here." Lupin finished, the two of them watching Harry slowly walk to his next class. 

Ivory and Lupin walked back into the classroom, the professors resting on the side of a desk while Ivory sat on one across from him.

"Are you ok? I mean.. with your monthly sickness," she prodded. Her real question wasn't something you could jump right into, so she merely checked the waters.

"Of course, it's simply a sickness. It comes and it goes," Lupin said simply, though his head tilted to the side as he tried to work out her intentions. "What exactly is this about?"

She sighed, biting her lip as she prepared herself for what she would deem an interrogation. 

"Monthly sickness, always on the full moon. Snape teaching a lesson about werewolves while you're gone, your boggart. It's not hard to see you've got a certain secret," she listed. Leaning forward as she rested her chin against her hand.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Ivory," Lupin said as he cleared his throat. He awkwardly shifted in his spot, but his face remained poker straight.

"Lycanthropes, fascinating aren't they?" She smiled confidently, knowing unless she said the entire thing she wasn't going to get a straight answer. But then again, she wasn't sure if she wanted one. So she put up a confident demeanor as always.

"Id say so, I am a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Lupin chuckled.

"Well of course, that and the fact you know one!" 

"I know maybe one or two, I've met them through work. Though I applaud you for saying the technical term, most of them don't appreciate being referred to as mere animals." Lupin said.

"You're bad at hiding stuff sir, I've got to say, you need to learn how to lie better."

He gave her a questioning look, but the way his mouth seemed to twitch showed her he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"You're one of them aren't you?" She finally questioned. Stopping her dodging around the question.

He stayed silent, but nodded slowly and reluctantly. It was clear to her he wasn't so proud of his condition. No one is, Lycanthropy is a rare but unfair case.

"I won't tell anyone, sir," she revealed. As she said this she could visibly see him un-tense. His shoulders going from stiffened to a simple relaxed state, though he didn't make eye contact she could see he was grateful for her confession.

"That would be nice of you, dear. But, do you know anyone else who might suspect it?" He sighed.

"Hermione would be the safest bet, she's a smart witch you know?" Ivory said as she smiled fondly, recalling her friends vast knowledge and intellect. "I wouldn't be surprised if she becomes Minister of Magic one day."

"Neither would I," Lupin smiled.

"I also think she fancies you," Ivory said almost absent mindedly, recalling the way Hermione would glance at Lupin far more times than she would any other teacher.

Lupin once again went to his silent state, his eyes wide as he tried to process what this third year thought of him. Though when he seemed to realize it was true his face went beet red under his small dark blonde stubble. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and only when he seemed to let out a strangled cough to break the silence between them did Ivory realize he was very uncomfortable with this knowledge.

"Oh course, Hermione seems to fancy smart people in general, so maybe she'll settle for a Ravenclaw. Though uhm—" She paused as her mouth went dry. "Me and Harry have a bet going... About her and Ron.."

Her words seemed to lighten the mood as Lupin gave a small chuckle, pushing himself off the desk as he went to stand tall as always by his desk. "I believe you have a class to get to, and I have one to prepare for," he said as he picked a notepad from his torn pockets. He dipped his quill into the ink pot and scribbled down a message as Ivory jumped off her desk. She quickly took the note and gave him a side hug before fleeing down the hall, yelling a "Thanks Lupin!"

Though she didn't see it, he smiled softly when she finally said his name. And even though it was only his last one, he felt proud to be a sort of friend to the girl.

The Friday that week Ivory spent with her dear friend Luna Lovegood, who she seemed to constantly hope could be more than such.

The two were sitting contently by a large grass field, watching as the wind blew it feverishly fast. Scattering dying blades of green around in its wings. Each time one flew by Ivory would pick it out of the sky, twirling it in her numbing cold fingers before letting it go, off to dance with the rest of the meadow.

Luna sat still and and feverish as her mind lay wonder to other worlds. Worlds above them and below, worlds no one seemed to deem exploration and ones that had already been explored. It wasn't a hard task to find Luna Lovegood's head in the clouds, what was one though seemed to find her focusing intently on her own reality.

"D'you think trees ever get lonely? Or bored? I couldn't imagine being confined to only one spot most my life," she wondered aloud, making her pale and black haired friend turn to her. A simple yet strange question from her friend, as always.

"Id think, the more heartbreaking of the matter is living a solid 50 or so years, only to be broken and beaten down for some kid to scribble poorly drawn circles on." 

"Yes, I suppose so, then again.. Maybe they're still alive? Able to see what the person writes and how they look during it?"

"Would make for some real awkward times when two couples are writing love letters," Ivory laughed, soon being joined by the blonde.

"You're hilarious! I'm not sure how some people at Hogwarts don't find excuses to simply talk to you!" Luna rambled, her smile lighting up the same as her eyes.

Ivory laughed, her face having gone red almost immediately at her friends compliments. "Im not that great, Luna, id say you're far better."

Luna shook her head, frowning slightly as she talked. "No one seems to like me, they simply enjoy my curiosity at times of convenience."

Ivory's face scrunched up at the words.

"I like you Luna!" She admitted, taking the girls two hands in her own, staring into her friends eyes.

"I like you too, Ivory!" she paused, smiling innocently as she had no idea how her next words would hurt the girl in front of her. "You're my best friend."

Ouch (Deja Vu)

"Right.." She said, visibly putting up walls. They protected her like always. There was still hope anyways, could never be too optimistic. 

"You know, I think you would be a good wife one day," Luna started. 

"You're kind, admirable, courageous, you're not afraid to do something new. I envy whoever you fancy," she stated.

Ivory felt the need to let out the bitter laugh she bit back. But she knew better than to cause questions, especially about this topic seeing as how she didn't know why her feelings for the girl were of those like a rose.

Beautiful, graceful and something of affection. But the thorns on the stem that pricked you made you step back.

"You would too, Luna. You don't give yourself enough credit for all the kindness you give people. You know, if you didn't wear your Ravenclaw colours you'd think you were a Hufflepuff," Ivory laughed.

Luna nodded along, smiling softly as she wrapped her arms softly around her friend. Ivory stiffened for a split second before cursing at herself for hugging back so quickly.

"Thank you," she whispered, snuggling her face in Ivory's neck. The girl sighed happily. Knowing that her simple kind words could definitely mean the world to her friend, after all, she never received too many.

"Luna, you know I'll always be here for you?" Ivory asked, genuinely truthful as she knew her friend had her own battles at times. Ones that she wasn't always there for.

"I know, but do you know I'll do the same?" said Luna as she pulled away, though the two missed the warmth of the embrace almost immediately.

Ivory kept quiet, but she nodded her head in recognition, her eyes peeling away reluctantly from the girl to watch the crowds of friends laugh and chat in the courtyard. "Do you think... That after Hogwarts we could still remain friends?" 

"Well, all friends fall out eventually, parted either by death or a simple misunderstanding. I hope we experience the first though. I wouldn't want to lose you."

There was another pause as Luna shifted in her spot, twisting to sit beside the pale girl. They enjoyed the silence, comforting instead of awkward like most would be in their lives. Neither of them seemed to want to talk first, so when one did finally make a noise it wasn't words, but humming.

Ivory Malonsi had started to hum. A rare sight to see her so relaxed with someone outside her family tree, as she had never been one to really try and open up to others. While humming wasn't a huge sign of acceptance, especially in others eyes, Luna found it compelling. She thought of memories you would have in your childhood of a parent humming the tune to your favorite melody. Or a bird on the windowsill humming for their babies in the nest.

The tune wasn't identifiable at first, it took a while for the blonde to realize where it was from. But when she did she couldn't fight the smile that spread across her face. 

It was a poem of sorts, maybe a lullaby she had heard once.

'Here in time

You are mine; 

My heart has not sung louder.

I do not know

Why I love you so-

The clock know's not

It's hour.

Yet it is clear,

To all that's here,

That time is told

By seeing.

Even though

Clocks do not know,

It is the reason

For their being.'

For Ivory though she had no more understanding of the poem than the clock does its purpose. She had heard her mother sing it many upon many times to her father, late at night when they presumed the children lay asleep. Those night's weren't always romantic poems and jests though. There were times where they would fight and wake up the house, the sons and daughter gaining conscious only to see broken plates and hear the screams of their mother. It took a while for the lot of them to realize that even if she did try, none of them could escape his wrath too easily. So they were stuck their for 10 years of Ivory's life, stuck miserable and bruised.

The poem, while with dark origins from her past, comforted her in a way. She saw it as a sign that in darkness, there was always that spot of light.

Relishing in the finishing of the chorus with the wind whistling in the back the two girls lay into the grass, letting it tickle their faces and wash away any stress. The only things on their minds at that moment being peace, a hard thing to achieve when you tried rigorously. But taking a moment to lay back in nature and be thankful for your gifts was always something the two could do when together.

Two weeks before the end of the term, the sky lightened suddenly to a dazzling, opaline white and the muddy grounds were revealed one morning covered in glittering frost. Inside the castle, there was a buzz of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had already decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies. The students were all happily discussing their plans for the holidays. Ron, Ivory and Hermione had insisted on staying at Hogwarts that Christmas. All three of them acknowledging the fact Harry had shown a lot of loathing towards his family back in the muggle world. Ron's excuse had been him not being able to stand 2 weeks with his brother, Hermione said she needed to use the library back at the school, but Ivory was clear as she told Harry she'd rather spend time with him than her brothers. Besides, she got to see most of them everyday. Harry could definitely see through his other two friends lies, nonetheless he was grateful

To everyone's delight except Harry's, there was to be another Hogsmeade trip on the very last weekend of the term. 

"We can do all our Christmas shopping there!" said Hermione. "Mum and Dad would really love those Toothflossing Stringmints from Honeydukes!" 

Hermione had been quite excited to go back, along with Ron. But Ivory stayed quiet about the ordeal, not wanting to make Harry sad about it in anyway possible. Though it was clear to her he wasn't excited about them leaving. She could stay back again this time... She'd have to ask later.

The next day she asked if Harry wanted her to stay with him at Hogwarts again, he declined, saying she needed to go have fun with their friends and that he was ok. While she was aware of his lying she didn't question it, thinking he may have just wanted to be alone for the while. So she asked McGonagall if she could leave this time and got the ok.

On the Saturday morning of the Hogsmeade trip Harry bid goodbye to the three friends who had been wrapped in cloaks and scarves. They made their way down to the hill around the shrieking shack with the rest of the students and when they finally reached the village Ivory paused in wonderment. While the village looked normal and had only a few shops that stood out, she knew that it had a great bit of history behind it and that most the outsides covered amazing treats in the interior.

Still, she had gone there for a reason. After Harry and McGonagall said it was ok she had compiled a list of gifts and knick knacks she had thought of for Christmas. Each one having its own sentiment behind it.

She window watched for a while as she left Hermione and Ron to hang out together. Deciding that they would all meet up a little while before leaving to have a drink and snack somewhere.

It took a while to grab everything she had planned out (especially since they were all very different.) yet she was able to complete her mission. Seeing she had a while before she had to meet up with them she decided to go to Honeydukes's. Subsequently the two just so happened to be there, looking at a shelf of weird treats.

"Hermione! Ron!" Ivory called through the large crowd of students. They looked at her a bit bewildered as she had a large amount of bag on her arms. When she reached them she dropped the bags at her feet, making a creak sound from the wood panels below them.

"What exactly did you buy?" Ron asked curiously, going to reach for a plain maroon bag before having Ivory slap his hand away. "None of your business, flame head," she snapped. Picking up the maroon tote and holding it on her arm. "Now tell me what this ole' couple is doing," she smiled as she wrapped her arm around the two's shoulders.

"We aren't a couple," Hermione stated in her usual 'obivously' tone.

"Sure," Ivory dragged out, unconvined.

"We were looking at treats for Harry, would you want to help? Bloke would love it if it came from yo- OUCH" Hermione had stepped harshly on Ron's shoe, making him whine and hit her back. Granted, the look on his face when he realized what he had done made him cower away.

Ivory held up a tray of blood-flavored lollipops, showing them to her friends excitedly. "What about this?"

"Ugh, no, Harry won't want one of those, they're for vampires, I expect," Hermione was saying. 

"How about these?" said Ron, shoving a jar of Cockroach Clusters under the two girl's noses. 

"Definitely not," said a voice from right behind them. It had made goosebumps on the back of Ivory's neck as she jumped forward, looking behind her to see her close friend.

"Harry!" squealed Hermione. "What are you doing here? How — how did you —?" 

"Oh hurray! The legend is here!" Ivory laughed, hugging him quickly.

"Wow!" said Ron, looking very impressed, "you've learned to Apparate!"

"'Course I haven't," said Harry. He dropped his voice so that none of the sixth years could hearhim and told them all about the Marauder's Map

"How come Fred and George never gave it tome!" said Ron, outraged. "I'm their brother!"

"It's cause you're too much of a scaredy cat to ever use it," she snickered, but Ron had other plans as he glared at her. Though it only made her laugh more. "At least I know when to stop!" Ron rebutted, making her pull his ear down to her height, "At least I know when to be grown up!" And so a small fight broke out between the two, making Harry and Hermione sigh at their childish nature.

"You're not going to keep it, are you Harry?" said Hermione, as though the mere idea was ludicrous. "You're going to hand it in to Professor McGonagall, right?"

"Of course not," Harry said obviously. "If I hand it in, I'll have to say where I got it! Filch would know Fred and George had nicked it!" 

"But what about Sirius Black?" Hermione hissed. "He could be using one of the passages on thatmap to get into the castle! The teachers have got to know!" 

"He can't be getting in through a passage," said Harry quickly. "There are seven secret tunnelson the map, right? Fred and George reckon Filch already knows about four of them. And of theother three — one of them's caved in, so no one can get through it. One of them's got theWhomping Willow planted over the entrance, so you can't get out of it. And the one I just camethrough — well — it's really hard to see the entrance to it down in the cellar — so unless heknew it was there —" 

He hesitated though. There was the chance Sirius Black knew of at least one or two of the passages. Ivory, however cleared her throat, making her two other friends turn to see her with Ron in a headlock, desperately thrashing against the short girl. She pointed to a notice on the door with a smug smile on her face.

BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Customers are reminded that until further notice, Dementors will be patrolling the streets ofHogsmeade every night after sundown. This measure has been put in place for the safety ofHogsmeade residents and will be lifted upon the recapture of Sirius Black. It is thereforeadvisable that you complete your shopping well before nightfall. 

Merry Christmas! 

"See?" said Ron quietly. "I'd like to see Black try and break into Honeydukes with Dementorsswarming all over the village. Anyway, Hermione, the Honeydukes owners would hear abreakin, wouldn't they? They live over the shop!" 

"Yes, but — but —" Heroine seemed to be struggling to find another problem. "Look, Harry stillshouldn't be coming into Hogsmeade. He hasn't got a signed form! If anyone finds out, he'll bein so much trouble! And it's not nightfall yet — what if Sirius Black turns up today? Now?" 

"I don't suspect Black would risk being caught in broad daylight just to see Harry and kill him in a candy shop," Ivory declared with a roll of her eyes.

"He'd have a job spotting Harry in this," said Ron, nodding through the mullioned windows atthe thick, swirling snow. "Come on, Hermione, it's Christmas. Harry deserves a break." 

Hermione bit her lip, looking extremely worried.

"Are you going to report me?" Harry asked her, grinning. 

"Oh — of course not — but honestly, Harry —"

"Seen the Fizzing Whizbees, Harry?" said Ron, grabbing him and Ivory and leading him over to theirbarrel. "And the Jelly Slugs? And the Acid Pops? Fred gave me one of those when I was seven— it burnt a hole right through my tongue. I remember Mum walloping him with herbroomstick." Ron stared broodingly into the Acid Pop box. "Reckon Fred'd take a bite ofCockroach Cluster if I told him they were peanuts?" 

"Oh d'you think I could get Malfoy to do the same? Or that Pansy girl, she's pretty but boy is she mean!" Ivory started to ramble on as well. "When I was like 7 Kole gave me one of those Surprise Slugs, ya know the ones where its a slug shaped candy and you gotta eat it to find out the flavour? Well so Kole gave it to me right and it ended up being dirt flavoured but heres the catch, right! It had actual dirt in it! So I had to go to the hospital and I missed a lot of school!" She recalled with a smile on her face. "Dad ended up making Kole sit in the rain though to get him sick as well, a little bit of karma ya' know!"

When all of them had finished buying and paying for their sweets they left Honeyduke's and walked into the blizzard outside.


	15. 0.1.4

Ivory

When they had gone into the storm outside she could see Harry shiver in his shoes, him not having a cloak to protect from the harsh weathers like the other three. So, she took off her hat and gloves and promptly forced them on the boy, even after he whined about her needing them. She could aways buy a new pair for him incase he didn't have any, and right now he didn't.

While they walked Ron and Hermione shouted through their scarves while pointing at different shops and keeps, Ivory, having only been there this one time, watched them point out everything.

"That's the post office —"

"Zonko's is up there —"

"We could go up to the Shrieking Shack —" 

"Tell you what," said Ron, his teeth chattering, "shall we go for a Butterbeer in the Three Broomsticks?" 

All four of them eagerly agreed, clear as day that the snow storm was finally catching up to them and putting an end to the fun they had been having. In a few minutes they had clambered into the inn. The atmosphere warm and cozy as crowds around them talked with smiles on their faces.

A curvy sort of woman with a pretty face was serving a bunch of rowdy warlocks up at the bar. "That's Madam Rosmerta," said Ron. "I'll get the drinks, shall I?" he added, going slightly red. 

Harry, Hermione and Ivory made their way to the back room where there was a small, vacant table seated between the window and a handsome Christmas tree which stood beside the fireplace. Ivory admired the tree for a second or two, taking a small pine from it and holding it beside Harry's face.

"You've got Christmas tree eyes Mr. Potter," she beamed. Harry laughed along as well, watching her put the pine needle back onto the tree, though it fell to the floor with the rest of the broken off needles. Making the girl frown and turn back in her chair, her arms crossed.

About five minutes later of a small conversation Ron arrived back at the table, carrying four foaming and warm tankards of Butterbeer. 

"Happy almost Christmas!" he said happily, raising his tankard. 

They all took a synchronized sip of the drink, immediately relishing in the warmth that flew their body. Ivory gave out a small shiver from the immediate heat, giving her goosebumps along the arms.

Suddenly, a breeze blew by all of them as the door to the Three Broomsticks opened, revealing Professor McGonagall and Flitwick walking in. A moment later Hagrid, the Groundskeeper came in as well in deep conversation with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, dressed in a lime green bowler hat and a pinstriped cloak. All four had settled at the bar as Ron and Ivory pushed Harry's head under the table. Hermione keeping watch of the teachers as discreetly as she could while whispering, "Mobiliarbus!"

The Christmas tree beside their table rose a few inches off the ground, drifted sideways, and landed with a soft thump right in front of their table, hiding them from view. Ivory watched through spare branches as the teachers and minister sat at the table right beside theres, and her breathing paused as she waited for them to notice the quartet, luckily, they didn't.

After a minute Madame Rosmerta came over to the teachers table, holding a silver tray with multiple drinks piled upon it. Her sparkly turquoise high heels clacking against the wood as she strutted, Ivory had to admit, she was a very beautiful woman.

"A small gillywater —"

"Mine," said Professor McGonagall.

"Four pints of mulled mead —"

"Ta, Rosmerta," said Hagrid. 

"A cherry syrup and soda with ice and umbrella —"

"Mmm!" said Professor Flitwick, smacking his lips. 

"So you'll be the red currant rum, Minister."

"Thank you, Rosmerta, m'dear," said Fudge. "Lovely to see you again, I must say. Have one yourself, won't you? Come and join us..." 

"Well, thank you very much, Minister."

Rosmerta walked away for a moment and in that moment Ivory thought it smart to duck under the table and check on Harry who, although the cold climate, seemed like he was sweating from nerves. "You good, Potter?" she hushed, making him turn to her with a frown. "Do I look fine?" 

"No, you never do, just stay quiet ok," Ivory said.

"Oh of course, why haven't I thought of that! Great idea Ivy!" He whisper shouted.

"Stop being a prick, might make me expose you," she snickered, though his harshness had obviously begun to get to her, as she had seemed a bit more careful than usual with her teases.

"Right... sorry," he breathed, biting his cheek. 

Ivory gave him a small smile and returned back to nervously watching the teachers table, quietly tapping her fingers along out of habit. Once Madam Rosmerta returned to the table she sat down with a drink. "So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Minister?" The Woman questioned.

Fudge shifted in his seat, looking around in a paranoid fashion before finally leaning closer, making his words muffled by the hand he put around the side of his mouth. "What else, m'dear, but Sirius Black? I daresay you heard what happened up at the school at Halloween?"

"I did hear a rumor," admitted Madam Rosmerta. Leaning closer as Fudge had done and looking admittedly very interested in the issue.

"Did you tell the whole pub, Hagrid?" said Professor McGonagall exasperatedly. 

"Do you think Black's still in the area, Minister?" whispered Madam Rosmerta. 

"I'm sure of it," said Fudge shortly. 

"You know that the Dementors have searched the whole village twice?" said Madam Rosmerta, aslight edge to her voice. "Scared all my customers away... It's very bad for business, Minister." 

"Rosmerta, dear, I don't like them any more than you do," said Fudge uncomfortably."Necessary precaution... unfortunate, but there you are... I've just met some of them. They're ina fury against Dumbledore — he won't let them inside the castle grounds." 

"I should think not," said Professor McGonagall sharply. "How are we supposed to teach with those horrors floating around?" 

"Hear, hear!" squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick, whose feet were dangling a foot from the ground. 

"All the same," demurred Fudge, "they are here to protect you all from something much worse...We all know what Black's capable of..."

Ivory's thought flashed to her mother's concerns earlier that summer.

+×+

"I'm not sure Christopher," worried her mother, biting at her nails as the poor woman paced through the kitchen.

"Mom it's fine, if anything happens i'm sure Dumbledore will let you pull them out immediately," sighed the eldest son. His focus more on the cleaning he had been doing since the beginning of that week than his own mother's current affair.

"Yeah mum don't worry about us! If Black come's near we could use the killing curse like Ivy did on that crab!" Kole shouted dramatically, making Ivory turn to give him a harsh glare. "I was 7, and don't think I forgot you trying to strangle John when you were my age," she replied smuggly. Though John winced at the memory playfully. 

"Still got scars from the rope, you twat," John laughed. But the laughter stopped when Kole jumped from his seat to chase his twin around the house.

Mary-Anne sighed and shook her head, though there was a blatant smile playing at her lips as she watched the two run. "You'd think their younger than you, Ivory, you can be so mature-"

Though the woman was cut off when John accidentally knocked into the daughters chair, causing her to crash on the ground and let out an 'ouch!' She looked towards her older brother with a menacing stare before grabbing the chair and throwing it towards him, hitting him on the leg and causing him to fall with a yell.

Their mother let out a frustrated groan as she turned back to their brother. "Christopher please, just tell me one good reason why I should let THEM head to Hogwarts together with a murderer on the loose."

"He'd probably get scared away by their jokes." Chris said simply as he finally lent his broom against the wall. "I mean, really, if they tried they could scare anyone."

"Even a mass murderer?"

"Probably."

"A dark wizard and a supporter of You-Know-Who?"

"They did scare away dad, didn't they?"

She closed her eyes tightly before running a hand through her hair, "good enough for me."

+×+

"Do you know, I still have trouble believing it," said Madam Rosmerta thoughtfully, snapping Ivory out of her own mind. "Of all the people to go over to the Dark Side, Sirius Black was the last I'd have thought... I mean, I remember him when he was a boy at Hogwarts. If you'd told me then what he was going to become, I'd have said you'd had too much mead." 

"You don't know the half of it, Rosmerta," said Fudge gruffly. "The worst he did isn't widely known." 

"The worst?" said Madam Rosmerta, her voice alive with curiosity. "Worse than murdering all those poor people, you mean?"

"I certainly do," said Fudge. 

"I can't believe that. What could possibly be worse?" 

"You say you remember him at Hogwarts, Rosmerta," murmured Professor McGonagall. "Do you remember who his best friend was?" 

"Naturally," said Madam Rosmerta, with a small laugh. "Never saw one without the other, did you? The number of times I had them in here — ooh, they used to make me laugh. Quite the double act, Sirius Black and James Potter!" 

A loud clunk was heard from under the three's table, making Ron kick under the table.

"Precisely," said Professor McGonagall. "Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don't think we've ever had such a pair of troublemakers —" 

"I dunno," chuckled Hagrid. "Those two sets a' twins could give 'em a run fer their money. What, the Malonsi and Weasley's"

"You'd have thought Black and Potter were brothers!" chimed in Professor Flitwick."Inseparable!" 

"Of course they were," said Fudge. "Potter trusted Black beyond all his other friends. Nothing changed when they left school. Black was best man when James married Lily. Then they named him godfather to Harry. Harry has no idea, of course. You can imagine how the idea would torment him." 

"Because Black turned out to be in league with You-Know-Who?" whispered Madam Rosmerta. 

"Worse even than that, m'dear..." Fudge dropped his voice and proceeded in a sort of low rumble. "Not many people are aware that the Potters knew You-Know-Who was after them.Dumbledore, who was of course working tirelessly against You-Know-Who, had a number ofuseful spies. One of them tipped him off, and he alerted James and Lily at once. He advised them to go into hiding. Well, of course, You-Know-Who wasn't an easy person to hide from. Dumbledore told them that their best chance was the Fidelius Charm." 

"How does that work?" said Madam Rosmerta, breathless with interest. Professor Flitwickcleared his throat.

"An immensely complex spell," he said squeakily, "involving the magical concealment of asecret inside a single, living soul. The information is hidden inside the chosen person, orSecret-Keeper, and is henceforth impossible to find — unless, of course, the Secret-Keeper chooses to divulge it. As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who couldsearch the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even ifhe had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!" 

"So Black was the Potters' Secret-Keeper?" whispered Madam Rosmerta. 

"Naturally," said Professor McGonagall. "James Potter told Dumbledore that Black would die rather than tell where they were, that Black was planning to go into hiding himself... and yet, Dumbledore remained worried. I remember him offering to be the Potters' Secret-Keeper himself."

"He suspected Black?" gasped Madam Rosmerta.

"He was sure that somebody close to the Potters had been keeping You-Know-Who informed oftheir movements," said Professor McGonagall darkly. "Indeed, he had suspected for some time that someone on our side had turned traitor and was passing a lot of information to You Know Who." 

Ivory gulped, already seeing where this had been going. It wasn't possible that Black would have given up his years of friendship just like that. It was stupid to think someone could betray everything just like that. But what they were saying made her think twice. Her father had done it, what's to say Black hadn't?

"But James Potter insisted on using Black?" 

"He did," said Fudge heavily. "And then, barely a week after the Fidelius Charm had been performed —" 

"Black betrayed them?" breathed Madam Rosmerta. 

"He did indeed. Black was tired of his double-agent role, he was ready to declare his supportopenly for You-Know-Who, and he seems to have planned this for the moment of the Potters'death. But, as we all know, You-Know-Who met his downfall in little Harry Potter. Powers gone, horribly weakened, he fled. And this left Black in a very nasty position indeed. His master had fallen at the very moment when he, Black, had shown his true colors as a traitor. He had no choice but to run for it —" 

"Filthy, stinkin' turncoat!" Hagrid said, so loudly that half the bar went quiet. Hermione visibly winced at the volume, making Ivory rub the girls arm comfortingly.

"Shh!" said Professor McGonagall. 

"I met him!" growled Hagrid. "I musta bin the last ter see him before he killed all them people! Itwas me what rescued Harry from Lily an' James's house after they was killed! Jus' got him outta theruins, poor little thing, with a great slash across his forehead, an' his parents dead... an' Sirius Black turns up, on that flyin' motorbike he used ter ride. Never occurred ter me what he was doin' there. Ididn' know he'd bin Lily an' James's Secret-Keeper. Thought he'd jus' heard the news o' You-Know-Who's attack an' come ter see what he could do. White an' shakin', he was. An' yeh know what I did?I COMFORTED THE MURDERIN' TRAITOR!" Hagrid roared, large wet ears in his eyes.

"Hagrid, please!" said Professor McGonagall. "Keep your voice down!" 

"How was I ter know he wasn' upset abou' Lily an' James? It was You-Know-Who he caredabou'! An' then he says, 'Give Harry ter me, Hagrid, I'm his godfather, I'll look after him —'Ha! But I'd had me orders from Dumbledore, an' I told Black no, Dumbledore said Harry was ter go ter his aunt an' uncle's. Black argued, but in the end he gave in. Told me ter take his motorbike ter get Harry there. 'I won't need it anymore,' he says. 

"I shoulda known there was somethin' fishy goin' on then. He loved that motorbike, what was he givin' it ter me for? Why wouldn' he need it anymore? Fact was, it was too easy ter trace.Dumbledore knew he'd bin the Potters' Secret-Keeper. Black knew he was goin' ter have ter run fer it that night, knew it was a matter o' hours before the Ministry was after him. 

"But what if I'd given Harry to him, eh? I bet he'd've pitched him off the bike halfway out ter sea. His bes' friends' son! But when a wizard goes over ter the Dark Side, there's nothin' and noone that matters to em anymore..."

A long silence followed Hagrid's story. Ron himself let out a shaky breath, his body quivering slightly as Ivory had done whenever she felt overwhelmed. But, she merely bit her lip as always. Then Madam Rosmerta said with some satisfaction, "But he didn't manage to disappear, did he? The Ministry of Magic caught up with him next day!" 

"Alas, if only we had," said Fudge bitterly. "It was not we who found him. It was little PeterPettigrew — another of the Potters' friends. Maddened by grief, no doubt, and knowing that Black had been the Potters' Secret-Keeper, he went after Black himself." 

"Pettigrew... that fat little boy who was always tagging around after them at Hogwarts?" said Madam Rosmerta. 

"Hero — worshipped Black and Potter," said Professor McGonagall. "Never quite in their league, talent-wise. I was often rather sharp with him. You can imagine how I — how I regret that now..." She sounded as though she had a sudden head cold. Her mood had considerably dropped, her lips forming into a thin frown.

"There, now, Minerva," said Fudge kindly, "Pettigrew died a hero's death. Eyewitnesses —Muggles, of course, we wiped their memories later — told us how Pettigrew cornered Black.They say he was sobbing, 'Lily and James, Sirius! How could you?' And then he went for hiswand. Well, of course, Black was quicker. Blew Pettigrew to smithereens..." 

Professor McGonagall blew her nose and said thickly, "Stupid boy... foolish boy... he was always hopeless at dueling... should have left it to the Ministry..."

"I tell yeh, if I'd got ter Black before little Pettigrew did, I wouldn't've messed around withwands — I'd 've ripped him limb — from — limb," Hagrid growled. 

Ivory gulped, looking down under the table to see Harry with wide eyes, his face pale and cold. She tapped his shoulder discreetly and stuck out her hand to him, to which he took. Holding it tightly as he wiped his eyes onto his opposite sleeve.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Hagrid," said Fudge sharply. "Nobody but trained Hit Wizards from the Magical Law Enforcement Squad would have stood a chance against Blackonce he was cornered. I was Junior Minister in the Department of Magical Catastrophes at the time, and I was one of the first on the scene after Black murdered all those people. I — I will never forget it. I still dream about it sometimes. A crater in the middle of the street, so deep it had cracked the sewer below. Bodies everywhere. Muggles screaming. And Black standing there laughing, with what was left of Pettigrew in front of him... a heap of bloodstained robes and afew — a few fragments —" 

Fudge's voice stopped abruptly. There was the sound of five noses being blown.

"Well, there you have it, Rosmerta," said Fudge thickly. "Black was taken away by twenty members of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad and Pettigrew received the Order of Merlin,First Class, which I think was some comfort to his poor mother. Black's been in Azkaban eversince." 

Madam Rosmerta let out a long sigh. Wiping her hands over her face and brushing stray hair away. She looked overwhelmed, everyone did, the story was absolutely tragic. But something about it made Ivory wonder whether Black had been innocent. 

It sounded crazy, she thought she was being crazy, but something didn't fit into the whole thing. She had a sneaking suspicion she needed to talk to their DADA teacher after all this. He would've been in their year and known them if her math served her correct. He might know something about the three friends.

"Is it true he's mad, Minister?" said Rosmerta, her voice clear with worry.

"I wish I could say that he was," said Fudge slowly. "I certainly believe his master's defeatunhinged him for a while. The murder of Pettigrew and all those Muggles was the action of acornered and desperate man — cruel... pointless. Yet I met Black on my last inspection ofAzkaban. You know, most of the prisoners in there sit muttering to themselves in the dark; there's no sense in them... but I was shocked at how normal Black seemed. He spoke quite rationally to me. It was unnerving. You'd have thought he was merely bored — asked if I'd finished with my newspaper, cool as you please, said he missed doing the crossword. Yes, I was astounded at how little effect the Dementors seemed to be having on him — and he was one of the most heavily guarded in the place, you know. Dementors outside his door day and night." 

"But what do you think he's broken out to do?" said Madam Rosmerta. "Good gracious, Minister, he isn't trying to rejoin You-Know-Who, is he?" 

"I daresay that is his — er — eventual plan," said Fudge evasively. "But we hope to catch Blacklong before that. I must say, You-Know-Who alone and friendless is one thing... but give him back his most devoted servant, and I shudder to think how quickly he'll rise again..." 

McGonagall set her glass down onto the table, her slinky and pale fingers shacking as she folded them together. Her obvious tenseness in their conversation affecting her usually strict posture, making her slouch yet keep firm square shoulders as always.

"You know, Cornelius, if you're dining with the headmaster, we'd better head back up to thecastle," said Professor McGonagall. 

One by one they all left, hems and cloaks swinging along as Madam Rosmerta's heels clicked while she walked back to the bar. The door to the Three Broomsticks opened and let it a large gust of snow as they all stepped out. 

And like that the atmosphere at the quartets table weakened slightly, a collective sigh from the three. But Ivory, who's hand had been entwined with Harry's was starting to note a hurt as the boy had been squeezing it harder and harder throughout the ordeal.

"Harry?" 

The three of them, Ivory, Ron and Hermione looked under the table, lost for words as he looked blankly in the direction where the teachers had been sitting.

After a long while they had all gathered themselves and quietly walked out of the inn, no words being spoken as they walked down the chattering and snowy streets of Hogsmeade. Hermione and Ron had been whispering silently to each other, making hand motions that Ivory couldn't understand as her and Harry walked behind them.

"Harry? Do you uhm," she paused as she wasn't confident in her skills at comforting people, "Do you... Want to talk?" She asked, looking to him with sympathetic eyes. Though he blinked rapidly and looked down at his shoes, giving her a forced smile as he shook his head no. "Its fine, I'll be fine."

She bit her cheek, knowing he had clearly been lying, but she nodded her head and squeezed his hand as she returned the smile. "Would you like to help me pick out some more gifts? We could maybe-"

"-I think I should be alone for a while," he murmured, an apologetic frown on his face. But she nodded her head, understanding he needed some space as she let him walk away form the group. When he did she caught up to Ron and Hermione, meeting them from behind as she wrapped her arm around Hermione's waist and one around Ron's shoulders. "Good 'noon party people! How are we feeling about end-of-term?" She smiled, doing her best to lighten the obviously down mood.

"Horrible!" said Hermione exasperatedly, "did you forget all we heard at the Three Broomsticks?"

"No, I've just decided to repress it and ignore the obvious dread I feel from it, now, who wants to join me?" She grinned playfully, swinging her feet best she could with the piles of snow on the floor.

"I'd love to but er- Me and 'Mione planned to go... and watch a small show.." Ron hinted, though it didn't seem to get through as Ivory linked her arm around his. "Perfect! I'd love to see a show!"

"We only have two tickets," Hermione said, nodding towards the ginger haired boy as he blinked dumbly. "Right, only two tickets. No more. Oops."

"Oh? Well I could probably buy one-"

"Its just for us, Ron and I."

"I know, but it could be just for US, Ron, you AND me!"

Hermione let out an annoyed moan as she shook her head.

"Hey wait! What's that over there!" Ron said excitedly, pointing towards a shop window, making Ivory curiously run over. "What was it Ron-"

Though when she turned around the two were gone, running sloppily together through the snow plows up the streets. Leaving Ivory there to herself.

"Twats," she frowned, "If they wanted to leave me to make out they could've said so."


End file.
